Demographics

Banking is often seen as a quintessentially modern institution. But financial practices are deeply rooted in the medieval period.

With consumers generally averse to risk, financial institutions have an opportunity to rethink what it means to make bets in line with their customers' well-being.

While it is true that more consumers complain to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau about their mortgages, the data still reinforces the idea that overdraft fees are more high-cost credit than protection.

Two startups are working to educate millennials on the importance of credit and issue them small credit lines. Credit to young adults largely dried up following the CARD Act of 2009, which changed the way banks and others could market to the group.

The prepaid card industry is ramping up its advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau readies a final rule targeting such products.

The U.S. Postal Service is neglecting its profitable money-order business, which has lost 25% of its sales volume over the last five years. Big changes are needed to revive the product, according to a new report.

To get more Americans into the financial system, the industry must find ways to help more people get access to the Internet.

The impending Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposal will limit access to payday lending but it will not enable small-dollar lending alternatives for consumers.

Banks have long struggled with how to better serve the underbanked and unbanked. Here's a roundup of some strategies that are working and some fresh ideas that are in the offing.

Banking industry representatives immediately raised significant questions about Donald Trump's plan to block remittances to Mexico, including the appropriateness of using financial institutions as a tool to carry out immigration policy, as well as how the policy would be executed.

GOP lawmakers and witnesses at a Senate Banking Committee hearing pointedly criticized the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday, setting the stage for a likely contentious hearing with the agency's director later in the week.

Donald Trump proposed to block billions of dollars in payments immigrants send back to Mexico if the government there refuses to pay for a border wall, in a potentially devastating move for Mexico's economy.

San Francisco has an Office of Financial Empowerment that oversees all sorts of programs designed to help residents handle their money better and recruits banks and credit unions to participate. As other cities adopt a similar approach, more financial institutions have an opportunity to get involved.

More than half of all U.S. households have suffered a "financial shock" in the past five years. Some say mobile apps could help users brace for — and recover from — such setbacks.

HarborOne Bank is proving that financial education really can improve the bottom line.

The ability to program value exchanges without risk of censorship, moderation or theft gives smart contracts a leg up in servicing users who lack a mainstream banking association.

A program recently started in New York helps entrepreneurs improve their business plans and cash flow before sending them to a bank. The nonprofit lender behind the program, meanwhile, hopes to boost small-business borrowers' credit scores and lower their rates.

Some of today's credit products and practices risk leaving consumers trapped in a cycle of debt.

Experts see the British bank's decision to downsize its African stake as another example of money-laundering concerns and other risks prompting institutions to get out of emerging markets.

The first protection a consumer needs is the assurance that any new reforms will not inadvertently drive all regulated credit from the market.