PayThink

Until recently, mobile wallets could count on getting at least some boost from exclusivity. If you were on Sprint, you could use Google Wallet but not Isis. If you were on AT&T, Verizon or T-Mobile, you could use Isis but not Google Wallet. If you had an iPhone, you could use neither, but you had your pick of software-based mobile wallets such as LevelUp and the Starbucks card.

The highway to higher bank profits is littered with dead banks and S&Ls. Don’t be surprised to discover a few more casualties along the highway if and when long-term fixed-rate lending really takes off.

Jan. 10, 2014, will be remembered in years to come as the day that brought sweeping changes to the way mortgage loans are underwritten.

2014 has begun and the credit union system is analyzing a sizable and complicated proposed rule from NCUA that would implement a risk-based capital requirement for natural person credit unions.

Whether tax reform will make any headway this year remains uncertain, but one thing is clear: eliminating the credit union exemption would be bad for consumers, the financial industry and the economy.

Because of its importance to the credit union system, NCUA's recently proposed rule to update risk-based capital regulations has appropriately garnered much attention.

"Taxation With Over-Representation!" is what I imagine the big sign-boards will read as protesting credit union execs gather to symbolically dump their association dues invoices into the Potomac later this week.

There is little doubt that the risk-based capital proposal issued by the NCUA Board at its last meeting is among the most significant proposals ever issued by the agency.

Phone calls interrupting my lunch are common, but this was one of my primary financial institutions trying to reach me, according to caller ID.

I myself am a HMDA wonk, but one with a rather love-hate relationship to the numbers. I love what they reveal, but hate the headaches that come from wrestling with data.