PayThink

Given new government rules on payment processing, giants like Bank of America, Chase and Wells Fargo would benefit immensely from acquiring proprietary debit card networks. Why they haven't done so already is a mystery.

Every business needs a competitive advantage. But for banks their core product, money, is by definition commoditized. So where do banks find an advantage?

Lawmakers are moving toward a compromise that would ban yield payments on stablecoins, but allow other rewards. The distinction is functionally meaningless, and leaves small banks in danger of losing deposits.

Financial institutions, regulators, and developers are aligning around a common goal of creating infrastructure that makes our global financial system faster, more efficient, and more secure.

There are a lot of worrisome things going on out there, but the credit markets overall appear to be okay. For now. And that, really, is all that matters.

Allowing clients to surrender or lapse life insurance policies before gauging value on the secondary market amounts to a fiduciary fail, argues Cole Hallman of Citizens Life Group.

Calls to replace proposed deposit insurance reforms with a revived Transaction Account Guarantee program would make the federal government's role in a bank run purely reactive. That would be a mistake.

The economy is already showing signs of stress from the oil crisis. How much longer will it last, and is there a red-line number that breaks the economy?

The cost of deposits has fallen but the trend may get short-circuited by a Fed that can't cut rates amid the inflationary pressures of the war in Iran.