Retail & Commercial

Ex-banker Sandy Kemper, the chief executive of an online marketplace that allows companies to negotiate over discounted, speedier payments, discusses the future of commercial finance.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including a proposal to regulate banks based on their activities rather than size and a plea for members of Congress to take action to help community banks.

The National Branded Prepaid Card Association has selected a new president.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and from our social media platforms.

Banks need to take a hard look at the age-old practice of using signatures to authenticate card payments, Federal Reserve Gov. Jerome Powell said Thursday.

Banks have faced increased scrutiny of their treatment of customers since the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and BB&T and others have proven that the process can be managed. Old fights with regulators can be put in the past if banks work hard at it.

Despite some silver lining, analysts say the Supreme Court decision upholding "disparate impact" in fair-lending disputes will only embolden activists and regulators to bring more cases.

During a hearing Thursday, Democrats wanted to talk about anything but allegations of employee discrimination at the CFPB raised by recent American Banker articles. Instead, they wanted to focus on alleged discrimination by banks and other companies.

The CFPB updated database includes more than 7,700 consumer narratives of problems faced when dealing with financial companies - including collection agencies and credit card issuers. More than half of consumers who have complained since March chose to share details.

MidWestOne Financial Group in Iowa City, Iowa has raised $8.4 million in a private placement of its common stock.