PayThink

The Small Business Administration should consider partnering with fintechs, which have the capacity to approve loans quickly, to help avoid the kind of application backlog the agency faced after the last government shutdown.

While payments firms must navigate political and regulatory waters, consumers and merchants are best served by a competitive free market free of politics, with minimalist regulators playing the role of the night watchman, writes Eric Grover, a principal at Intrepid Ventures.

They all agree that legislation is needed, but the two approaches being offered are exposing tensions.

Criticism of the National Credit Union Administration is unwarranted given the myriad of abuses banks commit.

Regulators should clarify rules around deposit-advance products so that banks can serve consumers seeking short-term loans, like those affected by the recent partial closing of the government.

Since the collapse of IndyMac in 2008, the agency has frequently helped to shield depositors over the $250,000 insurance limit from losses. But it’s a policy that was never formalized, and it remains to be seen whether the agency’s new head, Jelena McWilliams, will follow it.

Banks may soon have to account for the effect of payment and online banking outages on their customers' bottom lines, writes Iris Zarecki, vice president of marketing at Continuity Software.

The biggest merger in years is reviving the idea that the industry is headed for a barbell-like shakeout, with very large banks on one end, community banks on the other and very few in between.

The National Credit Union Administration has become too soft on the industry it is supposed to regulate. A hearing on two board nominees is a chance for Congress to change this.

With the opportunities provided by contributions, metered paywalls and single article purchases, we have a wealth of solutions already at our fingertips, argues Cosmin Ene, CEO of LaterPay.