In many countries, customers bank for free, but the reality is the poor largely subsidize “free” banking services through overdrafts and consumer loan payments. This model is seriously flawed, but it is about to change.

The Treasury Department will release a report early next year on opportunities and risks posed by fintech as part of administration efforts to reform the regulatory structure, Craig Phillips said.

Quarterly earnings at big five banks could have been worse; Chase to buy WePay, which helps online marketplaces and crowdfunding websites process payments.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, creator of the World Wide Web, exhorted developers to think about unintended consequences, saying he felt guilty over the digital divide and the proliferation of fake news.

The president of the St. Louis Fed said that regulators should go back to the pre-Dodd Frank framework for small banks, while warning about changes to the system as fintechs expand their presence.

Minorities are more likely to turn to a financial technology firm than a bank when seeking a business loan, but they may pay higher interest rates, according to the preliminary results of a congressional investigation released Monday.

While fintech companies have helped change our understanding of what is possible in financial services, disruptors have largely ignored an important user base.

With issuance of marketplace securitizations now exploding — rising 300% cumulatively in the past two years — the idea of online lending as a niche is quickly deteriorating.

Student loan platform Social Finance has withdrawn its application for deposit insurance, a month after former CEO Mike Cagney retired in the wake of sexual harassment allegations.

Bankers need to set aside their post-crisis aversion to risk, recapture some of the magic they once practiced as innovators, fear fintechs less, and worry about the Googles and Amazons more, says Peter Memon, a bank IT veteran turned global consultant.

Ripple announced several new customers Tuesday. The startup says its software, designed to compete with Swift, allows banks and others to send cross-border payments more quickly, transparently and cheaply.

In experimenting with a chatbot on its mobile app, TD Bank will have to tackle the same issue facing several of its rivals — how to automate conversations with consumers and decide at what point it’s time to switch to a human.

Brett King quizzes blockchain and investor guests on the appeal of ICOs and examples of where they're working.

Facing persistently low loan yields, increased competition and higher regulatory costs, many community banks are at risk of becoming irrelevant unless they rethink their business models.

The loan product, which allows consumers retroactively to adjust a payment amount, illustrates how community-based institutions are trying to reach technologically savvy consumers.

Cloud technology has made it possible to leverage APIs so that two pieces of software talk to each other and stay updated in real time, which dramatically improves the user experience, writes Sanjeev Kriplani, senior vice president of product at Bill.com.

Small-business credit is poised for a shakeout. In the coming months, partnerships between banks and fintechs will increase, and credit models will be refined.

Banks that find true innovation hard to accomplish can take heart — it’s no picnic for startups either. To hear both sides share their challenges is an argument for collaboration.

Industry observers are skeptical of acting Comptroller Keith Noreika's claims that his agency could grant a fintech charter to a commercial firm like Amazon or Google, arguing that such a move could become "Walmart 2.0."

The explosion of interest in digital assets this year, and the multiplying of their market value, are making cryptocurrency debit cards newly attractive. Banks could partner with intermediaries or issue the cards directly, but obstacles remain before that day can arrive.