Fintech and crypto groups said in comment letters to the Federal Reserve that the proposed "skinny" master account is too limited and could keep firms dependent on banks. Banking groups asked for more time to comment.

Traci Parks has been a copy editor at American Banker since 2023. She's worked at Scholastic National Partnerships and many fashion magazines, including V Magazine where she was also a contributing writer. As a playwright, her work has been produced in New York, Seattle and Los Angeles.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip Jefferson said in a speech Friday that long-term productivity gains brought on by artificial intelligence could compel the central bank to maintain higher rates to keep prices stable.

Joshua Bonney is a senior associate in Orrick's Washington, D.C., office.

While the e-commerce giant has deemphasized the technology, banks and payment firms are testing the biometric option.

As the need for easy-yet-secure mobile banking authentication escalates and consumers become used to logging in by looking into a camera, banks are taking the technology more seriously.

Banks talk a good game about thwarting fraud and protecting consumers and businesses, but the experiences of this author, a former bank regulator, illustrate how the quality of such efforts varies dramatically from one bank to the next.

The company angered hundreds of customers when its software flagged their accounts as suspicious and suddenly cut them off, according to a ProPublica report. The episode illustrates the challenge shared by fintechs and banks of rooting out scammers without being overzealous.

Europe has encouraged adoption with rules that put consumers in control of the way their data is shared among banks, fintechs and third-party vendors. Whether the U.S. can make similar progress without its own rules is unclear.