BankThink

Had Wells Fargo simply complied with regulatory guidelines on multifactor authentication across all channels, there would have been substantially less fraud.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Pay up: The European Court of Justice ruled that Spanish lenders must reimburse mortgage borrowers for charging them excess interest payments on variable-rate mortgages. The ruling, which can't be appealed, follows a 2013 decision by Spain's highest court that outlawed "mortgage floor" agreements on loans because banks didn't pass along the savings from low rates to customers. The ECJ confirmed the Spanish court decision but also said borrowers could seek reimbursement for all excess payments dating back to 2009 when the loans were introduced. Under the ruling, Spanish banks may have to refund 4.5 billion euros, or about $4.68 billion, to customers. Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times

The migration has been slow, but COOP Financial Services says there's momentum for adoption and usage. There are also signs that card fraud risk is improving.

The National Credit Union Administration acted appropriately, within its legal authority, when issuing its member business lending rule.

President-elect Donald Trump has threatened retaliatory tariffs on China if they cheat on their trading obligations. A good place to start would be China’s payment card market.

Most of the focus for electronic deposits is on mobile-based solutions, but credit unions shouldn't neglect to develop an online solution for use with a desktop computer and scanner.

With identity management now established as a distinct industry, it needs an organization to nurture its practitioners like those that exist for the privacy and security sectors.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Collecting: The federal government is increasingly garnishing student loan borrowers' Social Security checks to recover unpaid student debt "most of it borrowed years ago to cover their own educations but some used to pay for their children's schooling," according to a report from the Government Accountability Office. Since 2001, the government has collected more than $1 billion from Social Security recipients of all ages to cover unpaid student loans, with $171 million coming in fiscal 2015 alone. That one-year total is up 440% since 2002. Most of the affected recipients are over age 50 and collecting disability benefits, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The Federal Reserve and Federal Trade Commission investigated Visa for debit practices, a move that enhances competition in the marketplace for merchants.

Following the passage of the November ballot initiative, it is hugely important that cannabis businesses in the nation's largest state be able to secure bank accounts, at a minimum.