Policy & Regulation

The Treasury Department has begun an auction for its Troubled Asset Relief Program stake in nine more banks.

Take the Federal Housing Administration out of HUD and put it under a commission. A self-funded, independent government corporation would be a major step toward comprehensive housing finance reform.

With fears growing about the debt collection practices of payday lenders in England, the Office of Fair Trading now has the authority to suspend collection agencies that target certain vulnerable consumers.

When a single official has very great power over a small number of firms such as the megabanks, the result too often is regulatory capture.

Today’s modern payment systems have their genesis in a number of older ventures that plied everything from the Web to biometrics to enable digital commerce. Some are gone, and some have evolved unrecognizably into their current form. Here’s a look.

Lead Bank in Garden City, Mo., plans to expand the range of services it offers by becoming a state-chartered trust company.

Until recently, the card network generally prohibited its retail partners from offering special deals to customers that paid with a specific bank's credit or debit card. But Visa quietly lifted the ban on Feb. 1, paving the way for retailers to cut deals with card issuers, according to Visa group president of the Americas William Sheedy.

The payments network will now allow merchants to offer discounts to customers who use specific cards, as new CEO Charles Scharf rethinks how Visa does business.

Observers say it's unlikely Congress will be able to strike a deal to stop across-the-board budget cuts from going into effect next week, raising concerns for bankers and regulators alike.

The chip-and-PIN version of PayPal's Here mobile card reader is set to debut overseas this year, but the splash will be felt in the U.S. as well.