BankThink

Rather than wait until after a data breach to increase information-security investments, banks should put into place practices that help prevent cyberattacks in the first place.

As the financial industry scrambles to monetize big data, it would be smart to remember that consumers' growing concerns about privacy issues might stanch the flow of personal information in coming years.

Deutsche Names New CFO; Report Links Russian Government to Hacks

This year has been so bad for merchant data breaches that President Obama felt the need to advance the timeframes to be EMV-compliant at government points of sale.

Board members at smaller banks tend to dismiss the importance of the annual self-assessment process. But as board governance attracts growing regulatory scrutiny, directors should embrace the chance to identify areas for improvement.

Housing policy needs to be refocused on strengthening household balance sheets, especially by making borrowersmore resilient to home price declines. A new 15-year fixed-rate mortgage that allows borrowers to use the down payment to buy down the interest rate on the loan is designed to do just that.

SEC Stalemate on BofA Waivers; Should the Fed Tackle Inequality?

Designed as an alternative to current payment systems, digital currencies, such as Bitcoin, XRP and Dogecoin, are a way for people to track, store and send payments over the internet. They are intended to make payment processing cheaper and faster.

Walmart and Best Buy were up-front about their disinterest in Apple Pay; CVS and Rite Aid followed after the fact. Reportedly, these Merchant Customer Exchange participants are placing their bets on the group's upcoming CurrentC wallet, but there's another reason they may want to distance themselves from Apple Pay.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's report on private student loans should prompt lenders, regulators and universities to take action to help troubled borrowers and prevent future defaults.