PayThink

The Office of Financial Research, established by the Dodd-Frank Act to help regulators identify and thwart systemic risk events, faces a daunting task.

Despite recent sweet talk about building better relationships and regaining trust, few banks are taking meaningful steps to do either. It will take more than sympathetic ads, friendlier tellers or bonus credit card miles. This may require some time in therapy.

The G-20 held its summit in Cannes on managing risk in the global economy in early November. The group of heads of state covered the broad policy and political issues, financial ministers spoke on the difficulty of legislating rules and preventing unintended consequences.

Google removed 22 malicious apps from Android Market, its smartphone app store since last week — and has removed over 100 such apps this year.

Maybe it's better to leave home without it — people are at a greater risk of identity theft when they travel, USA Today reported Monday.

Short-term disruption of the financial services industry will most likely come from within: when banks partner with financial services entrepreneurs and embrace innovation. It's happened repeatedly in the payments sector: PayPal and Wells Fargo ten years ago, Square and JP Morgan Chase Paymentech today.

Expect more debt exchanges and cash tender offers from banks in the coming months. The strategy is rational and the alternatives for generating equity are limited at best.

Lots of ink has been spilled over financial events in Europe, but the essential issues are much more straightforward than they've been portrayed.

Yes, CUNA backtracked on the number of people who moved to credit unions on Bank Transfer Day. But so what? 440,000 new members is nothing to sneeze at. In fact, it's a stunning success.

As communication continues to digitalize and members become ever more mobile, credit unions need to stay ahead of the curve and ensure that they can communicate with members, no matter the channel.