Banco Popular de Puerto Rico

Startups are trying to reinvent the much-maligned payday loan, using Big Data to develop algorithms that can better predict who will default so they can cut the price of short-term, small-dollar credit. But consumer advocates continue to object to these products. Banks have an opportunity to partner with these new entrants, but reputational risk may discourage them from doing so.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency hasn't explained why it stopped Fannie Mae from slashing its hazard insurance costs by hundreds of millions of dollars. The regulator's decision certainly benefits major banks, however, leading critics to cry foul.

JPMorgan Chase is cutting some jobs but expanding its asset-management business, as it increasingly courts wealthy customers.

There's an oversupply of old-fashioned branches, and banks don't know what to do with them, says industry consultant and executive recruiter Rod Taylor.

Bankers often complain about regulatory intrusion into the free market, but the industry enjoys a host of subsidies. A recent IMF report showing the largest banks get an implicit subsidy to their funding costs equal to their entire profits was just the latest example. From the FHLBs to FHA, from Fannie and Freddie to the FDIC charter, all banks receive some degree of government support and protection from competition.

A BusinessWeek cover sparked controversy recently because many saw it as racist. But it also stirred concerns because it reinforced a persistent myth about the financial crisis: that it was caused by predatory borrowers, not lenders.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's Edward DeMarco is pushing a plan merge some Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac operations as Congress and the Obama administration continue to punt on housing reform.

With banks suffering a squeeze on consumer banking profits, the question for institutions large and small is whether emerging mobile and other services can ever make up for declining revenues elsewhere.

With fatter margins than high-end corporate banking and customers who are more interested in relationships and service than negotiating the lowest price, the commercial middle market is the industry's sweet spot, says consultant and executive recruiter Rod Taylor.

Mouths dropped when Attorney General Eric Holder openly admitted that the government fears prosecuting big banks would harm the economy. But what about going after individual bankers for fraud? Does the Department of Justice really lack incriminating evidence — or just political will?