PayThink

The recent security breaches at Nieman Marcus and Target remind us in the payments industry that as criminal efforts to steal cardholder data become more sophisticated, so must the methods we use to prevent these crimes.

Post-crisis structural changes will trigger a wave of community bank M&A, creating new regional bank powerhouses. Investors will pressure management to acquire, sell or return capital through dividends or repurchases. There will be no runners-up in the coming consolidation.

Recent guidance from the Justice Department and Treasury was intended to clarify federal policy. Policy statements, however well meaning, do not provide true legal protection. Only legislation can do that.

Like the Postal Service, small banks must radically change their business model, expect more consolidations and mergers, focus on critical services and avoid relying on the U.S. government for help – it could make things worse.

A positive spin around branches will proliferate, as will talk about wearable tech. Oh, and expect tons of M&A -- between banks and nonbanks.

With the DOJ's increasing profile as a bank enforcement agency, policymakers should seriously consider whether the benefits of continually increasing the number of regulators and the scope of regulation justify the impact on the availability and cost of credit in this country.

American Banker held its Retail Banking 2014 conference in Orlando, FL this week. Here, in tweets, are a few of its takeaways.

Public outrage over executive compensation is fueling calls for more legislation and regulation that will only wind up stifling economic growth, writes M&T Bank CEO Bob Wilmers.

Technology invites the explorers, the risk takers, to get "ahead of the curve." In a word, technology invites the young.

During the last five and a half years I have had the opportunity to see the good works that credit union people are capable of doing outside of their offices