Capital markets

Navient and Nelnet, the two largest student loan servicers, avoided downgrades on some $18 billion of bonds by extending their maturities. Getting the required consents from investors would normally take ages, but recent innovations speeded the process.

Freddie Mac's serious delinquency rate dropped below 1% for the first time since 2008, lending credence to its efforts to expand credit access.

Sweeping new data-sharing rules require a substantial IT revamp at large financial institutions.

After such a period of collective euphoria following the November election, how does the manager of a large institution explain a declining stock price to investors?

Europe's Payment Services Directive, or PSD2, has almost everything a technology vendor would want. It affects an entire continent, and it involves both sweeping new data requirements and a substantial IT revamp for large financial institutions.

The funding comes as the financial services industry continues to search for safer ways for customers to share their account data with third-party apps.

Fannie Mae has made three selling guide changes aimed at helping the growing number of borrowers with student debt qualify for home loans, and may begin testing similar proposals related to this goal.

Double-digit gains in assets under management and administration and higher interest rates more than offset rising expenses.

Payments and financial services technology are still stuck in yesteryear, chained to paper and dangerously prone to fraud, according to Matt Streisfeld, a principal at Oak HC/FT.

Loyalty programs are getting more sophisticated, but they still typically boil down to a game of collecting and redeeming points.

The Loan Syndications and Trading Association is appealing directly to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to exempt collateralized loan obligation managers from rules requiring "skin in the game" of deals.

"Virtually every venture capitalist I know is excited about insurance as the next big thing in fintech," says Sam Hodges, co-founder and U.S. managing director at Funding Circle.

First Data is teaming up with the bank to deepen the pool of knowledge and connections from which startups in the program can benefit.

Upgrade, an online lender started by former Lending Club CEO Renaud Laplanche, will tout credit monitoring and education features to stand out in a crowded field.

Arizona, Nevada, Florida and North Carolina have lost more banks than other states, based on the percentage decline since 2010. Each has a unique set of reasons that goes beyond regulation and a dearth of de novo activity.

Coordinators of a blockchain project backed by the financial industry say they have successfully demonstrated that the distributed ledger technology can be used to syndicate, trade and make payments on leveraged loans.

Blockchain Capital wants to raise $10 million by issuing its own digital token, a method the firm says is the future for startups, VCs and everybody else.

The 2012 Jobs Act let regular Americans invest in startups, spawning a glut of crowdfunding sites offering real ownership stakes in return for cash, rather than the new smartwatches or electric skateboards available on pioneering platform Kickstarter.

Wearable payment devices are cutting edge, fast and diverse. But they are not a steady, predictable or popular consumer trend. Even so, investors see a rich opportunity to get involved in the market for wearables.

Artificial intelligence is steadily making its way through the payments and financial services world. The technology's usefulness for fraud detection is clear, but there are other areas where AI can have an impact.