PayThink

Some politicians and regulators appear determined to shrink big banks. But doing so could hurt Americans who appreciate big banks' geographical reach and wide range of services, according to financial markets scholar Stephen Matteo Miller.

Evolution is occurring rapidly in mobile payments. While the innovation headlines are being made by the digital innovators and new industry entrants, banks still have a window of opportunity to take strategic advantage and preserve their traditional payments franchise.

Given Americans' heightened concerns over cybersecurity, banks should reconsider the notion of promoting card use for every transaction, according to Douglas Ceto of CetoLogic.

Banks that place too much emphasis on results without understanding the behavior behind it may create a dishonest or overly risky environment, according to consultant David Uhl.

Amazon's Square-like card reader comes at a very un-Square-like price, undercutting Amazon's competitor by a full 1% per swipe. But that promotion will eventually go away — and when it does, Amazon's merchants might go with it.

Investors will remain reluctant to take on the personal risk inherent in establishing de novo community banks as long as new regulations remain unwieldy and returns stay low, according to Richard Magrann-Wells.

Mixed signals from regulators — on everything from electronic checks to Operation Choke Point - only create fear, uncertainty and doubt among those in the business of improving the payment system, writes Glen Fossella.

Card-not-present merchants are battling increasingly frequent friendly fraud. That type of fraud–the “I don’t recognize” or “I didn’t do it” dispute–occurs when a cardholder makes a purchase, receives the goods or services and initiates a chargeback on the order claiming he or she did not authorize the transaction.

If megabank CEOs aren't themselves informed of all the pieces of their companies that have evolved over nearly a half century of financial conglomeration, how can they possibly inform regulators?

Each bank has tended to tackle financial crime on its own — in effect, inventing its own wheel. The result: ballooning costs and redundancies. But compliance is not a competition.