PayThink

Profiling is good. Understanding customer needs is good. Proactively recommending products and services is good. But the timing you apply to those things matters.

An obscure bill in the House would go a long way to protect taxpayers by giving megabanks an incentive to deleverage and shrink. So why has it gone nowhere?

In order foster low-cost relationships, banks should offer free digital checking accounts to new and existing customers … then charge for paper notices or statements.

A road map for regulation of virtual currency is beginning to emerge as more states appear willing to issue licenses for entities offering exchange and other services.

JPMorgan Chase's recent refusal to process payments for a startup condom company highlights why government crackdowns that treat banks as moral police (ahem, Operation Choke Point) should worry everybody.

Rilla Delorier, SunTrust's marketing chief, says banks need to work together to promote financial health and change behavior. "We have to do this to save our industry," she says.

The Year of Mobile Payments will arrive only when all of the key players — providers, merchants and consumers —are sufficiently motivated to change.

The Federal Reserve's suggestion that bank assets rise in recessions, though supported by data, paints an incomplete picture. Stress ultimately causes bank assets to decline, but with a considerable time lag.

Instead of tasking one team with developing new products, give everyone – from senior management to tellers – permission to innovate continuously. Tapping those with firsthand experience of what works and what doesn't on a day-to-day basis can spur big changes.

Let's stop talking about what we don't like and start having more productive discussions on how elected representatives, regulators, consumer groups and industry leaders can work together to foster innovation in the short-term credit market that leads to better products for the nation's consumers.