Demographics

Consumers deserve disclosure and the protections enjoyed by payroll card users, but it is critical that regulations do not put providers out of business.

Steps to improve credit access, evangelize for down payment programs and offer borrower counseling can stop and even reverse the decline in homeownership.

The ultimate approval of the CIT-OneWest merger by regulators represents a giant step backwards for the Community Reinvestment Act.

The British giant is making fintech startups its allies as it builds a virtual bank tailored to the needs "of the people at the bottom of the pyramid."

The fintech lab backed by JPMorgan Chase and the Center for Financial Services Innovation has revealed nine winners of a recent startup competition focused on helping consumers plan for financial shocks.

Even though innovative underwriting criteria can help more people get credit, the risks and potential harms of mining social media data to make loan decisions might just be too great.

The prospect of banks and credit unions meeting small-dollar loan demand is at risk under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's restrictive proposal.

At the same time federal regulators are cracking down on payday loans, another form of short-term credit for low-income Americans is staging an unexpected comeback.

The Bank of England is among the central banks exploring possible uses of blockchain technology. In a recent speech, a BOE official noted how it would open access to central banks beyond commercial banks. "Everyone – including individuals – would be able to hold such balances," he said.

Fintech firms and banks should collaborate on using alternative data sources to qualify more borrowers for small-dollar loans.