PayThink

When Michel Barnier of the European Commission singled out auditors for enhanced scrutiny this week, he was reacting to anger, in Europe at least, over the "no bark, no bite" behavior of accounting "watchdogs" before, during, and after the financial crisis.

Is Bank of America charging for debit cards because it is shortsighted or because it is too bloated to compete against smaller institutions for consumer accounts?

"In financial ecosystems, evolutionary forces have often been survival of the fattest rather than the fittest." So says Andrew Haldane, Executive Director for Financial Stability at the Bank of England. He is right.

A cloud is hovering over bankers due to the Durbin Amendment and its impending impact on their revenue. However, for bankers who focus on unique opportunities to grow their customer base, these regulatory changes coupled with emerging technologies can present a profitable silver lining.

Companies are swarming to provide added security for mobile phones – but their services might not yet be needed.

Bankers, directly and through their lobbyists, have been expressing outrage related to the Basel III rules designed to ensure the safety and soundness of the global banking system. A top spokesman at the American Bankers Association, for example, was recently quoted saying that Basel III should be "put on a shelf."

Last week, my organization, the Center for Financial Services Innovation, released a set of principles and best practices for delivering the kinds of everyday products and services consumers need to manage their financial lives. We call them the "Compass Principles," and we believe they have the potential to create a more enabling environment for financial services innovation that is positive for consumers and promotes competition and profits.

Banks are pushing mobile devices for payments, but there may be an untapped – and more immediate – opportunity to use mobile for security improvements on mainstream payment types.

A "don't waste a good financial crisis" moment has arrived. The G-20's Financial Stability Board is set to convene a global workshop on how to create and administer a global identification standard for businesses and their ownership structures involved in the financial supply chain.

Many users have criticized a recent redesign Facebook made to its social networking site, but the company may have pleased hackers by making personal information easier to dig up.