Customer data

A White House executive order mandates that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other federal agencies take steps to protect personal information from getting into the hands of "countries of concern." The CFPB is promising rules to rein in data sharing later this year.

The CFPB needs to think bigger — much bigger — when it comes to writing rules for Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act.

The card network sells aggregate information about customer spending habits, which data-privacy advocates say goes past Mastercard's role as a payment processor. Mastercard explained the recent removal of certain advertisements as a business decision.

In search of new revenue streams, the card network has researched companies' working-capital and cash-flow headaches to see where it could play a bigger role.

Its One Ally strategy is meant to help the bank with personalization and cross-selling.

A former employee at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sent data on 256,000 consumers and dozens of companies to their personal email account.

Banks report cyber events to their boards and regulators more than twice as often as they notify their customers and the general public, according to a recent survey. New reporting requirements could change the equation.

The bank is working with a tech company to personalize customer communications using proprietary data. It's an alternative to cookies, which are becoming less viable as data privacy laws become stricter.

The credit bureaus plan to add repayment data for installment loans, a move that can inform credit decisions and help answer regulators' questions about how such borrowing affects consumers' financial health.

Immigrants from Brazil, Nigeria and Kenya will be able to get scores based on their home country credit histories under a partnership between American Express and Nova Credit.

Companies that put in place procedures and technology to analyze data from phone calls, emails, chats and other communications can help front-line workers avoid repeating customer service mistakes.

The U.S. and its neighbor to the north are each developing frameworks to give consumers control over financial data and allow companies to transfer account information. A recently issued Canadian government report could influence efforts in both countries, analysts say.

Banks should let consumers download their account data and transfer it to other financial providers, according to a new presidential order. Some experts argue aggregators are already making this happen, but others say the directive implies more consumer control.

The regional bank wanted to make more timely and relevant offers to its customers, especially in the realm of online and mobile banking. It worked with several vendors on a system to analyze customers’ activity and push out personalized recommendations.

Technology has helped banks expand globally, but complying with country-specific laws restricting data flows is a constant struggle.