PayThink

Banks can still use properly tailored arbitration provisions to cut off class actions. Provisions should be explicit; silence is not a bank's friend when it comes to arbitration agreements.

There are several keys to a credit union's effective loan administration, but here are three to consider as you review your existing loan administration system.

How can credit unions ensure that embracing Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter won't result in a social scandal? The biggest threat to the use of social media by credit unions is, quite frankly, not to use it all.

I've seen people shamelessly filling their conference bags with trade show loot. I've seen just about anything that could be deep fried and attached to a stick served up as hors d'oeuvres. But I've never seen a man work a trade show in his boxer shots. Until now.

President Calvin Coolidge once said "The nation which forgets its defenders will itself be forgotten." We can never, ever forget those who served to protect what we have in this great country. Defense credit unions have not and never will.

I agree with Jerry Cross, CEO of One Credit Union: New NCUA examiners should spend some part of their training working inside a credit union.

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

Government-mandated risk retention is not an answer to the problem of bad loans being bundled up and sold to unsuspecting buyers. A better approach is to make sure that MBS purchasers have access to good loan-level data about what they are buying.

By pretending to treat the guarantee problem as actuarial rather than political, Corker-Warner can garner the support of traditional lending and housing lobbies that historically supported Fannie and Freddie.

It’s easier to sell a person something he wants than to scare him into buying protection from something he wants to avoid. That’s particularly applicable when it comes to selling payments security.