PayThink

No matter how streamlined my finances have become, there is one regular nuisance: sending money to and from family or friends without the friction that requires recipients to provide hard-to-remember information like account numbers and routing numbers.

We’re asking customers from different demographics to describe what they are looking for from their financial services providers.

Every financial institution offers similar products and services as well as similar educational programs.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week.

Lenders can take advantage of a concept the CFPB missed: compensating factors. Strong credit histories, substantial down payments, stable jobs and documented incomes can offset high debt-to-income ratios, for example.

If regulators want to limit the damage in Main Street communities, they should completely exempt Trups CDOs from the Volcker Rule. This would avoid needless writedowns without putting Main Street communities at financial risk.

You'd have to be, well, high not to have seen all the reporting around the New Year related to Colorado's and Washington's legalization of recreational marijuana sales.

Visa and MasterCard have little real interest in implementing effective security because they don’t absorb fraud losses.

Zombie companies have survived on the loose monetary policy of the past few years, designed to help at-risk businesses stay afloat and keep people employed in the wake of the financial crisis. But forthcoming changes will make it hard for these firms to repay their debt.

Of all the potential benefits, mobile-driven loyalty is the factor with the greatest potential to drive consumer adoption of mobile payments.