Financial services technology has dramatically improved payments for consumers. E-commerce connects buyers and sellers around the globe.

A chief financial officer's workday is booked solid dealing with regulatory issues, risk assessments and finding places to cut costs. If they could find an extra hour, bank CFOs say they would use that time to consider how to improve their banks' strategies, employees and communities.

If banking is under attack, then chief financial officers are the defenders of the realm. Equipped with the numbers, they are uniquely positioned to bring the credible answers their stakeholders seek and the changes their companies need.

They spent their formative years analyzing balance sheets saddled with problem assets. They watched their mentors struggle to keep their banks afloat through the crisis. And they took good notes.

Our new special reports and proprietary research profile the key executives flanking the CEOs at financial institutions and explore how their roles have evolved. First up: the chief financial officer.

In March, American Banker Research conducted an in-depth online survey of 52 bank chief financial officers from American Banker's readership as part of our inaugural C-Suite Series. The respondents were from banks with less than $10 billion in assets, with vast majority coming from banks with $100 million to $1 billion in assets. They were asked how they spend their time, where they would like to take their careers and how they are handling the unprecedented challenges of today's banking environment. Among the insights revealed from the survey: Basel III hasn't been a big deal for the top line — yet; few CFOs are focused on mergers and acquisitions; and many of them consider their roles strategic. Highlights from the research follow.

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Of the nearly 5,000 institutions that fit our criteria for this ranking, these are the 500 most profitable as measured by their three-year average return on equity.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including a case for the CFPB's debt collection regulations and the dangers of "real-time" transaction monitoring.

Regulators' latest guide for examining anti-laundering procedures lacks wholesale changes, but institutions still must decipher minute changes with potentially big impacts.

As more community banks switch to a universal banker model, they are also finding that it can take a year — or more — to properly train those employees.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and from our social media platforms.

Banks want all loans held in portfolio to be classified as ultrasafe regardless of the underwriting characteristics or of a bank's asset size. But consumer activists and independent mortgage lenders are raising red flags ahead of possible Senate Banking action.

FirstBank in Lexington, Tenn., has agreed to buy Northwest Georgia Bank in Ringgold.

Ocwen Financial's shares jumped 19% to more than $10 a share as of late morning Friday, the day after it reported a first-quarter profit and highlighted an expansion into mortgage lending.

Hanmi Financial has opened loan production offices in New York and Georgia.

First BanCorp in San Juan, Puerto Rico, has been released from a consent order with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Complaints filed with the CFPB against collection agencies jumped in March while district court numbers revealed an uptick in lawsuits

The Costco cobrand card was a huge win for Visa, but nevertheless the card network's chief executive, Charlie Scharf, found himself defending the terms of the partnership.

A measure of consumer credit defaults released Thursday by S&P Dow Jones and Experian shows a slight downward movement.