Banking

The information you need to start your day, from PaymentsSource and around the Web. Today: Square speeds payments in the U.K.; Saga aims to counter cryptocurrency fears; A group forms to help with PSD2 compliance; Bitcoin scores in New York real estate.

Under GDPR, nothing can happen with the European consumer's data unless they explicitly opt in. American consumers tend to ignore the fine print on company statements regarding the potential uses of their data, leading to an environment where companies expect them to opt in by default.

Readers react to the Senate regulatory relief bill, weigh in on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s innovation initiative, chime in on whether banks need to provide more value in a digital age and more.

More than a decade ago, bankers fought Walmart tooth and nail as it made forays into banking. But with Amazon making more moves into financial services, the reaction is very different.

The new law, which is modeled on a similar effort in the United Kingdom, aims to lure financial firms to the desert. It has drawn support from business organizations but opposition from consumer groups — a dynamic that is likely to be replayed in other states.

While some key indicators dropped in the year ending Dec. 31, 2017, credit unions in many states continue to thrive, with several new states jumping to the head of the pack for various growth measurements.

CEO Michael Corbat all but called out his counterparts at other banks to join Citigroup in setting limits on what kinds of firearms businesses it is willing to serve. The response was muted, but the pressure to act is tremendous.

AxiomGo is being offered to customers seeking alternatives to prepaid cards and traditional checking accounts.

As tax reform spurs demand, a rising rate environment is making the short-term loans more appealing to banks.

Behavioral biometrics are attractive because they are easy to implement, hard for criminals to spoof and not subject to the same privacy protections applied to thumbprints or retina scans.

A bill before Missouri's House of Representatives has several provisions that would put more regulations on payday lenders without harming CUs offering similar, safer products.

LGE Community Credit Union has a deal to acquire Georgia Heritage Bank. It's the fourth time this year a credit union has agreed to buy a bank.

The Portland, Ore., company has hired four private bankers from City National as part of a broader effort to provide a full range of services to business owners and high-net-worth households in Orange County and San Diego.

Small institutions need to rethink their approach to younger employees, giving them more opportunities and responsibilities — and borrowing from their digital know-how.

The bank says CEO had no input into $325 million loan to Trump's son-in-law; Fifth Third, First Republic take equity stake in online student loan lender.

The information you need to start your day, from PaymentsSource and around the Web:. Today: Instragram's payments feature makes a global move; Investor sets up a new U.K. fintech hub; CBA's sorry for payments glitch; Points for cryptocurrency.

Are American college students using their student loan dollars wisely? A LendEDU study explored how those funds are spent.

Constellation Digital Partners, LLC, has raised $26 million in the last 10 months.

Just as promised, Republican lawmakers went to work Wednesday considering regulatory reform ideas that would go further than the Senate's tweaks of the Dodd-Frank Act.

A bill to allow captive insurance companies to be reinstated as members of the Federal Home Loan Bank System appears to be dividing the FHLB community.