PayThink

Fostering financial well-being among the country's fastest-growing demographic group is essential to the future of the American economy. And, not incidentally, it's also good for business.

The siren song of greater regulatory uniformity will lead the industry to disaster, as the kind of innovation that benefits consumers is stifled.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reversed itself, declaring that earned wage access programs, which conduct no underwriting and charge no interest, are loans. This is a disservice to the industry and consumers.

Vice President Kamala Harris has kept a low profile in banking policy, and there is a reasonable expectation that her administration would pick up where Biden left off. But if she wanted to, Harris could reset Democrats' financial policy agenda.

America must never cease to be the global leader in innovation and entrepreneurship. However, when it comes to bank-fintech relationships, politics and misguided regulatory forces threaten the very foundation of that innovative spirit and limit consumer choice.

Arrested four times for blocking the entrance to Citigroup, a veteran climate protester wonders why more rank-and-file bankers don't make common cause with activists trying to prevent the funding of fossil fuel development.

Lenders and financial institutions should allow consumers to report nontraditional financial activities in an effort to adopt and validate newer, more inclusive credit scoring models.

Financial services supervisors should revisit the concept of regulatory sandboxes. Doing so would allow fintechs to gain needed experience in the world of banking, while fostering innovation.

Congress needs to take immediate action to reform policies that foster this trend and ultimately subsidize banking consolidation on Main Street, writes Rebeca Romero Rainey, president and CEO of the Independent Community Bankers of America.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's term expires in 2026, and the chances are good that he will ride off into the sunset. But there is a path for him to be renominated for a third term, and he's defied long political odds before.