PayThink

Online bill pay technology developed with small business users in mind is lacking. But new offerings could provide companies with greater functionality, while also helping financial institutions reduce risk and build stronger customer relationships.

Branches are outdated, expensive and unwieldy. For years, bankers have postponed dealing with the dead weight. Now it looks like they’re starting to make the necessary hard decisions. Finally.

Community banks' prospects will improve if they accept that the financial services industry is changing. They must re-examine strategies and business models, and experiment and improvise to exploit new opportunities.

Reforms of recent years appear to be working and the Federal Housing Administration’s worst financial days appear to be behind it. Time for the agency to return to its mission.

The industry has moved from a traditional customer-oriented banking model to a transactional and counterparty-oriented model. This change has contributed to an operating environment in which the opportunity for abuse and deception has increased.

If the banks do not want to divest from these fringe consumer finance companies, the OCC should make them do so. Their reputations are at risk.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. plans to use Dodd-Frank's "orderly liquidation authority" to dismantle a troubled megabank, but experts worry the single-point resolution may be perceived as a stealth bailout by the government.

Federal regulators added a final rule that exempts certain mortgage loans and refinances from appraisal requirements established under the 2010 Dodd-Frank reform law.

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

The FDIC invited luminaries like Paul Volcker and John Reed to evaluate their plan to seize and unwind a troubled megabank – and probably didn’t like what they said.