PayThink

Compensation needs to be competitive, of course, but employees also need to feel appreciated. In a challenging labor market, here’s how banks can retain their best workers and keep them motivated.

Just 6% of banks say they're using cloud computing, artificial intelligence and other technologies to improve efficiency and maximize performance. Here's what the other 94% should be doing.

Banks talk a good game about thwarting fraud and protecting consumers and businesses, but the experiences of this author, a former bank regulator, illustrate how the quality of such efforts varies dramatically from one bank to the next.

The IRS and Justice Department waged a successful campaign to crack down on UBS and other Swiss banks for facilitating tax evasion. Coinbase, Kraken and other crypto exchanges should take note.

Critics of consolidation say the Federal Reserve and other agencies are too quick to greenlight bank deals. But the truth is banks face many hurdles to merger approval, and they don’t bother to apply — or take a hint and withdraw their applications — if they can’t clear them all.

Fannie Mae should be applauded for allowing lenders to take rent payments into account when underwriting home loans. But lenders will need to embrace other credit scoring models if they hope to turn more renters into buyers.

Community development financial institutions and minority-owned banks have long faced funding challenges, but billions of dollars of investment — spurred by Black Lives Matter protests — have given them an opportunity to increase lending by a factor of 10. Here’s how they can do it.

Research shows that unbanked recipients of the Advance Child Tax Credit want bank accounts, while those with banking relationships are eager for advice on how to use the money.

Despite clear evidence to the contrary, the mortgage insurer continues to insist that credit unions have the same risk profile as nonbank lenders. It’s now threatening to exclude nearly a quarter of credit unions from being qualified issuers of the securities it backs.

This is not a world for small ideas, and the sooner many narrowly focused upstart financial technology companies come to grips with that reality, the better.