Data Sets

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

There is a sudden surge of attention around Host Card Emulation, a technology that enables Near Field Communication contactless payments without requiring access to the phone's secure element (a chip that carriers control). Several mobile wallets are either in testing or fully live with the technology.

The Federal Reserve on Friday released transcripts from more than a dozen Federal Open Market Committee meetings and conference calls held during 2008, at the height of the financial crisis. The hundreds of pages of recorded history show how policymakers struggled with their decision to allow the investment bank Lehman Brothers to collapse and offer intimations of the turmoil yet to come from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

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.

Remember when Hall of Famers Phil Rizzuto and Jim Palmer used to shill for The Money Store? Financial firms continue to rely heavily on high-profile endorsements. Following are some noteworthy examples.

Mergers and acquisitions have gained steam in early 2014. Here is a rundown of the whole-bank deals, shedding of noncore businesses and swapping of securities so far this year.

The Merchant Customer Exchange's mobile wallet is still taking form. The retailer-driven initiative hasn't even given its product a name in the year and a half it's been in development, but a steady stream of news about its technology and partnerships show what the fully assembled product might look like.

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.

Many politicians who are partial to big government, including Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, are embracing a Jan. 27 proposal by the Postal Service's inspector general to allow the post office to sell prepaid cards and make small-dollar loans. Some have dubbed the proposal a "public option" for consumer financial services.While the USPS inspector general envisions the private banking sector having some involvement in its proposal, many details of that role have yet to be determined. Countries around the world offer a variety of models on how to structure a postal bank. Following is a look at various approaches.

Bankers have plenty of complaints about government, yet a steady stream of industry notables is striving to join the public sector's ranks. Former and current executives, central bankers and other financiers have sought and held political office through the years, both at state and national levels. Here are some who made - or have tried to make - the leap.

The recent Target breach has loomed large among the media, cardholders, bankers, retailers and lawmakers. But it's not the largest card-related data breach, nor even the latest - it's only one link in a large chain of security lapses over the past decade. Following is a look at some of the most memorable events.

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

Payment cards can sometimes do more than just make purchases. Some pack in odd functions; others are high-tech takes on the aging magnetic-stripe card.

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.

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

Five years ago, Starbucks was primarily a coffee company. Today, it's a pioneer in mobile payments technology with a significant portion of its U.S. transactions made using its smartphone app. And according to the company's CEO, this is only the beginning.

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.

Community banks are still struggling to regain their financial footing following the drying up of mortgage refinancings. But quarterly results are providing some glimmers of hope. Here are the highs and lows from the nearly 200 community banks that have reported so far.

Branches are vital to attracting new customers and cross-selling to existing ones, but they're also expensive. Some banks, like Washington Federal (WAFD) and U.S. Bancorp (USB), continue to add branches. But most institutions are focused on pruning their networks to cut costs. Here's a sampling of how banks are adjusting branch networks to suit changing strategies.

Banks and other companies headquartered abroad have been busy buying and selling financial firms in the United States recently. Here's a look at M&A activity lately that's had a distinctly international flavor.