Banco Popular de Puerto Rico

While big banks are trying to recruit more employees with engineering and technology expertise, they are often losing out to startups and tech giants like Facebook and Google. American Banker editors discuss the perks, better compensation and cultural changes that banks would need to offer to get ahead in the war for talent.

The fraud-fighting EMV chips that are a card-industry standard in Europe finally appear to be on the verge of becoming one in the U.S. Editors discuss why now and what the diffusion of the technology will mean for bankers and merchants.

A federal appeals court ruled Friday that the Federal Reserve acted appropriately in setting restrictions on debit card swipe fees, marking a critical victory for banks and a major setback for retailers. American Banker editors discuss what the ruling is likely to mean for the debit card industry and whether it represents the end of the high-stake battle.

For mortgage lenders, "subprime" can sound like a dirty word, especially after the financial crisis. But now some mortgage companies, in search of new business, are starting to loosen their credit standards again. As some banks and nonbank lenders, including Wells Fargo and Carrington Mortgage, offer mortgages to less creditworthy borrowers, are the subprime mortgage floodgates about to open wide?

Mobile banking has expanded beyond the market for youthful early adopters and is rapidly becoming a mainstream product. American Banker reporters discuss who else is logging on and the hurdles the industry faces to keep the momentum going.

The U.S. Post Office should get into banking. With that assertion, agency Inspector General David Williams created quite a stir a few months ago. Behind the proposal are dueling postal officials with very different policy positions and agendas. Plus a murmur of momentum on Capitol Hill. American Banker reporter Kevin Wack explains.

An upcoming Senate Banking Committee vote this month could be the tipping point needed for housing finance reform to actually happen — or it could signal yet more stagnation. American Banker editors discuss the political stakes and potential pitfalls as Congress attempts to change how the government supports the mortgage market.

Bank tech experts can be forgiven for focusing heavily on cyber-security threats these days. But to stand among the leaders in the fast-evolving world of electronic money, bankers will have to find ways to become more innovative. American Banker editors discuss.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is facing mounting problems over racial disparities in its hiring and performance evaluation practices, which have drawn criticism and Congressional scrutiny. American Banker reporters discuss what's next for the CFPB and its critics, and what Director Richard Cordray could do to improve his agency's situation.

Leading bankers and presidents have been tied together over the decades by more than money and power. From the days of Theodore Roosevelt and J.P. Morgan on, blood ties have played a role, too. So says Nomi Prins, whose new book, All the Presidents' Bankers, profiles the close and complex relations at the top of American finance and politics.