BankThink

While marketplace lenders like LendingClub and Prosper are at the cutting edge of innovation for now, banks may gain ground eventually. Either way, the competition greatly benefits the expanding pool of borrowers who will have greater access to credit.

Will AIG Ruling Deter Bailouts?; Goldman's Online Lending Bet

After several years of dormancy, Apple resurrected Near Field Communications (NFC). However, it remains to be seen if NFC will ultimately prosper and become the kind of ubiquitous payment technology that today is unique to payment cards.

The cumbersome regulations for prepaid products proposed by CFPB could reduce market competition, discourage innovation and effectively cut off many Americans' participation in the digital economy.

Multinational banks that delay preparation for the European Union's proposed General Data Protection Regulation could pay a steep price: hundreds of millions of dollars in fines.

Default Dangers; Terror Victims' Claims on BNP Fine

Imagine you work for a grocery store where every 18 out of 100 shoppers must be turned away from the register when they arrive with a loaded grocery cart. This would obviously aggravate a lot of shoppers, which is why it’s ridiculous that e-commerce companies do this every day – usually without realizing it.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including the pitfalls of using alternative data to score "credit invisibles" and whether Benjamin Lawsky's successor should play nice with big banks.

Barclays has mounted a sober public response to a tongue-in-cheek email sent by analyst Justin Kwan to a crop of summer interns. But the bank would have been better served by showing the world that it has a sense of humor.

Hedge Fund Loses Big on JPMorgan Lawsuit Bet; Mortgage Refi Market Chilled?