BankThink

Refusing to let innovators experiment in a permissive environment keeps regulators in the dark, and ultimately, prevents progress in financial services.

The Trump administration will not approach economic policy like the Federal Reserve does, but the central bank can still address its own problems before the new administration intervenes.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...White to leave: Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Jo White said she plans to step down in January at the end of the Obama administration, "opening the door to a new Republican-appointed leader who could move to loosen rules on Wall Street and curb the aggressive enforcement approach Ms. White prosecuted," in the words of the Wall Street Journal. White is the first major Obama appointee to announce a departure after Donald Trump's victory last week, but White intended to leave regardless of who won the election. Other financial regulators are expected to follow her out the door. Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, Washington Post

There are security gaps in chip cards that are vulnerable to new types of skimming. Biometrics can help solve this problem, and will also prove handy as EMV cards migrate to smartphones.

American Banker is pleased to bring you Breaking Banks, hosted by Brett King, and featuring the editors of American Banker.

Wei Ke, a partner at consultants Simon-Kucher, discusses the psychology behind customers' choices, including the appeal of metal credit cards, the willingness to pay $450 a year for a card and the paralysis of too many options.

The same incentives structure that encouraged bad behavior at the bank can be blamed for ethical mishaps in other industries as well as the government.

The president-elect faces major questions about credit access, affordable housing, the future of Dodd-Frank, and the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the extent to which he will act upon them remains unclear.

Wall Street JournalDismantling Dodd-Frank: Rather than fully repealing the Dodd-Frank act, Donald Trump's transition team is instead looking at dismembering the parts of it that "Republicans find most objectionable," according to the Wall Street Journal. One part they want to jettison is the Financial Stability Oversight Council's authority to designate large nonbanks as "systemically important." Another priority is overhauling Title II, which gives regulators the authority to take over a failing bank and liquidate it rather than bailing it out.

Evidence exists that in most markets in which public regulators oversaw EMV implementations, the results were much better for merchants and consumers.