Opinions

Even as tight ties between regulators and the regulated are blamed for the housing collapse, former FHA chief David Stevens shows the Washington revolving door is in full swing.

In a flat-fee model, most of the innovative energy goes into reducing costs rather than developing services that customers value.

Heartland Payment Systems Inc. is prepared to pass along what it calls “Durbin Dollars” to its merchant clients.

An aggressive push by the Justice Department to investigate fair lending claims is prompting a backlash from bankers who claim the government is abusing its authority.

The proposed Qualified Residential Mortgage rules have a better chance at harming the housing market than they have at addressing underlying weaknesses in the securitization process. They are an overreaction to the excessive risk-taking during the housing boom.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau opened its doors July 21, a day after this nation commemorated the anniversary of the first manned mission to the moon. And just like Neil Armstrong maneuvered over the moon’s rocky surface, the government’s newest agency might present the payments industry with some uneven terrain to navigate.

A Michigan retiree who has sued more than three dozen credit unions and banks over the surcharge-fee notification requirements of the Electronic Funds Transfer Act has convinced ELGA CU to settle one suit by paying as much as $76,000 to nonmembers who used six of its ATMs that lacked the mandated external notice of a surcharge.

First Data said it would refer its bank and credit union clients to IronKey for software to protect users from fraud when banking online.

Financial services firms may want to be more discriminating when it comes to choosing their battles, rather than protesting and shouting any time a new piece of regulation is proposed. Old arguments about economic impact don't outweigh safety concerns surrounding systemically important institutions.

After years of worrying about the bad lending decisions and illiquidity that started the crisis, we must face the structural problem prolonging the crisis and preventing the economy from recovering fully.