BankThink

With real-time payments advancing, processors need to shore up security, according to David Worthington, vice president of payments at Rambus.

John Asbury, president and CEO of Union Bancshares, wants to make Virginia something it hasn’t been in decades: home to a regional bank powerhouse. He discusses how striking the right balance between acquisitions and strategic hiring works toward that goal.

Unauthorized exposure of any type of customer data, for any period of time, is a serious issue, writes Carl Wright, chief commercial officer of AttackIQ.

The Small Business Administration should consider partnering with fintechs, which have the capacity to approve loans quickly, to help avoid the kind of application backlog the agency faced after the last government shutdown.

The JPM Coin will be used to expedite payments transfers for its corporate clients; customers of Spain’s largest retail bank will be able to withdraw cash without entering a PIN.

While payments firms must navigate political and regulatory waters, consumers and merchants are best served by a competitive free market free of politics, with minimalist regulators playing the role of the night watchman, writes Eric Grover, a principal at Intrepid Ventures.

They all agree that legislation is needed, but the two approaches being offered are exposing tensions.

Criticism of the National Credit Union Administration is unwarranted given the myriad of abuses banks commit.

Regulators should clarify rules around deposit-advance products so that banks can serve consumers seeking short-term loans, like those affected by the recent partial closing of the government.

Since the collapse of IndyMac in 2008, the agency has frequently helped to shield depositors over the $250,000 insurance limit from losses. But it’s a policy that was never formalized, and it remains to be seen whether the agency’s new head, Jelena McWilliams, will follow it.