Resources

Some of the most influential women in payments, with backgrounds at American Express, Fifth Third, Fiserv and other companies, share what they learned as they advanced their careers.

Mortgage servicers have halted the foreclosure process for hundreds of thousands of empty homes across the country. That has left many properties deteriorating and the original owners liable for taxes and upkeep.

Wells Fargo is the latest big bank to try to get more revenue from its wealthiest clients by offering them fee-intensive investment-management products. But Wells and its wealth-management competitors, including JPMorgan Chase and PNC, also have to overcome their reputations and customers' reluctance to trust big banks.

Money transmitter licensing requirements, know-your-customer rules and other requirements create high costs and barriers to entry for new players in the payments field, says Dave Birch of Consult Hyperion. It's dubious that all the red tape is beneficial or necessary for payment accounts with small balances, he argues.

The economist Friedrich Hayek famously advocated competitive issuance of money. Dave Birch of Consult Hyperion says this may soon come to pass, with multiple currencies, public and private, serving as means of exchange and stores of value. Are you ready to pay for purchases in kilowatt hours?

Eric John Abrahamson, author of "Building Home: Howard F. Ahmanson and the Politics of the American Dream," talks about what lenders today can learn from Howard F. Ahmanson's story.

Privacy in electronic payments is critical does not entail anonymity, argues Dave Birch of Consult Hyperion. Encryption technologies can protect privacy while allowing authorities to trace stolen digital money in break-the-glass situations, he maintains.

Processing payments is a costly activity for banks, one that nonbank businesses, such as telecommunications operators and retailers may be able to handle more nimbly and efficiently, says Dave Birch of Consult Hyperion. Rather than threats, banks should view these more lightly regulated outsiders as potential partners.