PayThink

Members are turning to their credit unions in growing numbers for mortgages. In fact, the mortgage business at credit unions soared in 2012. With this growth comes another level in regulatory compliance.

John A. Vardallas, CEO of TheAmericanBoomeR Group, gives thirteen critical initiatives credit unions should implement in 2013.

Characteristics of prepaid cards and checking accounts have converged. This will continue until they are simply different names for the same thing. Manage them together, and provide with each all the relevant features for which customers will profitably pay.

Federal agencies have the authority and ability to raise minimum capital in a direct and meaningful way, outside of the Basel III process.

Bankers must concentrate on achieving greater efficiencies, stop focusing on short-term goals and strike the right balance between unacceptably poor compliance practices and unattainable perfection.

Making home loans that aren't "qualified mortgages" will soon carry legal risk. Will making only QM loans expose lenders to fair-lending claims under the disparate impact doctrine? Washington must clarify.

During the Credit Union National Association conference on Wednesday, Richard Cordray, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said smaller financial institutions should lend beyond a new ultrasafe class of mortgages created by the agency.

Checking account regulations are outdated even for their primary product. Why would you want to regulate prepaid cards with a set of archaic rules?

At a Credit Union National Association conference in Washington on Wednesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren defended both the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and its director Richard Cordray.

If a customer connects to an open Wi-Fi network, fails to follow adequate Bluetooth communications protocol or uses shoddy passwords on smartphones, a bank's internal networks may be exposed to fraud.