Data Sets

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. As excerpted from the Comments sections of AmericanBanker.com articles.

With JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo set to issue the initial round of first-quarter earnings reports Friday, big bank CEOs are bracing to answer questions about executive departures, capital shortfalls, seemingly unending legal risks and — oh, yeah — how they are going to make money.

The most notable quotes from American Banker stories of the previous week. Readers are encouraged to add their own observations in the Comments fields at the bottom of each slide.

Between the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten-Mile Run and the SacTown Ten-Mile Run, Credit Union Miracle Day raised $487,000 for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.

A new report by the World Privacy Forum describes the proliferation of "consumer scores" and calls for rules that would make them more transparent to the public. These scores differ substantially from traditional credit scores, which are compiled using loan payment histories from credit reports. Instead, consumer scores rely on other data, such as retail purchase histories, demographic information and social media activity. Consumer lenders use some of them to evaluate loan applicants. Here's a rundown of selected scores and some of the World Privacy Forum's related warnings, including one that calls for updating existing consumer protection regulations.

A selection of images featuring credit unions' efforts in their communities.

Walmart has long been as much a force in financial services as it has been in retail. Here are some of ways Walmart and its executives have shaped - and challenged - the payments industry.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. As excerpted from the Comments sections of AmericanBanker.com articles.

Distressed-bank rollups were all the rage among private-equity and hedge fund investors in the early days of the financial crisis. The results have been decidedly mixed, as the following examples illustrate.

The most notable quotes from American Banker stories of the previous week. Readers are encouraged to add their own observations in the Comments fields at the bottom of each slide.

Even the biggest success stories in mobile payments have skeletons in their closets. But each company learned from its mistakes and was quick to adapt.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. As excerpted from the Comments sections of AmericanBanker.com articles.

When American CU executives travel to other parts of the world with WOCCU, they're usually the teachers. But the U.S. executives who recently traveled to Brazil found a very advanced credit union movement--and discovered they could learn a thing or two about cooperation and the value of a national brand from their Brazilian counterparts.

The Federal Reserve Board's stress tests left a fair amount of blood on the floor for banks. Twenty-five of 30 passed, but the central bank rejected the capital plans of four banks based on qualitative factors, rather than straight-up numbers. Only one bank failed both rounds of stress tests based on its numerical score. Following are the banks that fared poorly:

The most notable quotes from American Banker stories of the previous week. Readers are encouraged to add their own observations in the Comments fields at the bottom of each slide.

Ratings for the opening weekend of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament rose 8% from a year earlier. Several financial firms benefited from the visibility of having their names on venues that hosted games.

A selection of images featuring credit unions' efforts in their communities.

Innovation can come from unlikely places. Five years ago, few would have guessed that the most widely available mobile wallets would be developed by companies like Starbucks and Google, which built their names in completely different fields. Several more disruptors are joining the scene, with even weirder origins.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. As excerpted from the Comments sections of AmericanBanker.com articles.

The investigation that Justice Department officials have dubbed "Operation Choke Point" was first disclosed in March 2013. The probe aims to prevent fraudsters from accessing consumer bank accounts by choking off their access to the payments system. Its effects have been felt by banks, payment processors and companies that make short-term consumer loans over the Internet, with some industry officials arguing that at least some of the affected online lenders are legitimate businesses. Here is a look at key milestones of the investigation.