Opinions

There should be little debate as to whether the U.S. payment system is falling behind the rest of the world. Great Britain and others lead the world in real time payment options at affordable prices to consumers, merchants and other payment stakeholders.

Though stress tests are widely viewed as a successful and critical exercise, there are growing concerns that regulators — and the banks themselves — may have become too reliant on them, overshadowing other aspects of the supervisory process.

Billionaire Warren Buffett, who has profited from investing in banks while faulting the financial industry's lapses, said Senator Elizabeth Warren's approach to Wall Street is too confrontational.

International remittances grew at a number of banks last year, according to new data, but anti-money-laundering rules may make the fee-based business too expensive to keep.

Lawmakers reluctant to offer community banks regulatory relief should consider the empirical evidence of how Dodd-Frank has hurt small lenders — and listen to the federal and state bank regulators calling for changes.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said on Monday it had picked Patrick Harker, currently president of the University of Delaware, as its next president, effective July 1.

An audit of Ginnie Mae financials identified four "material weaknesses" and one "significant deficiency," primarily related to the accounting of $6.6 billion in defaulted loans made by the failed lender Taylor, Bean & Whitaker.

Popular and FirstBank gained critical branches and deposits in a region where growth is hard to come by. Some observers said it could also benefit the island to have one less competitor.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including Dodd-Frank's impact on small institutions, Fed chair Janet Yellen's handling of attacks on her staff and Bitcoin's public but pseudonymous ledger.

Hudson City Bancorp in Paramus, N.J., has been released from an enforcement action with federal regulators.