Customer data

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.