Resources

Banks are notably absent from the list of top payments innovators these days. Instead, the freshest ideas are coming from start-ups and companies like American Express and PayPal, which each recently unveiled new technologies that pose threats to the established order.

So far, banks have skirted many data privacy issues faced by Walmart, the NSA and others. But as they make broader and deeper use of customer data, privacy problems emerge.

Accepting her award as American Banker's Most Powerful Women in Finance, Mary Callahan Erdoes of JPMorgan Chase delights her audience with a humorous anecdote, and unapologetic pride, about working in the industry today.

Raise your hand for assignments, find a strong team, call your mother. Advice to the next generation of women from the most powerful women in banking and finance.

Regulation-by-numbers under Dodd-Frank is taking the art out of community banking and narrowing the borrowing window for lenders and needy borrowers alike. That was one of the key take-aways from the Federal Reserve's first ever conference on community bank research.

Bosses from some of the nation's top banks enjoyed a rare White House photo op in recent days when the administration turned to them to be part of the solution to the financial problems plaguing the capital rather than part of the problem. American Banker editors discuss whether the episode will recast bankers in a more flattering light and what perils the political mess holds for the industry.

Some areas of the country are enjoying hot bank-deal markets while others are stone cold-including some over-banked ones. Robert Barba, American Banker's Chicago-based M&A reporter, explains what's behind the numbers.

De-cluttering has become the name of the game with bank web sites recently. The un-answered question is whether these moves will merely make them more attractive or provide a competitive edge in opening new accounts and retaining existing customers. American Banker tech reporters discuss the trend.