Economy

Key Democrats abruptly reversed course Tuesday concerning a monetary policy tool, saying they now support the Federal Reserve's ability to pay interest on banks' excess reserves.

Following the scandal-tinged departure of CEO Renaud Laplanche, the company is contemplating drastic steps to restore the confidence of loan buyers. Scenarios that would have been far-fetched a short time ago — such as diluting shareholders and funding loans off its own balance sheet — are now under consideration.

Harmony Bank in Jackson, N.J., has exited the Small Business Lending Fund. The $ 295 million-asset company said in a press release Tuesday that it paid about $3.5 million to redeem roughly 3,500 shares of preferred stock.

Google should be applauded for deciding to ban payday loan-sponsored ads. But it should tweak some of the details so legitimate lenders can still advertise.

Mobility's incursion into merchant services is normally treated as a threat to independent sales organizations and legacy acquirers, who will find themselves on the outside as technology-based services take over the store.

As the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis continues its yearlong inquiry into how to end "too big to fail" in the banking system, academics and economists are starting to home in on a different but related question: How do we keep financial contagion from creating financial crises?

The June 25 launch, which will provide lenders with much more information about a borrower's credit history, will mark the first widespread use of trended data in the mortgage industry.

Favorable treatment under upcoming Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rules has led banks to signal interest in small-dollar loans. But if they can serve the market profitably, why aren't they already doing it?

Too many fintech companies are selling superficial products. Entrepreneurs need to start solving hard problems and offering real value.

In a blog post on the Brookings Institution website, former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke defended the Dodd-Frank Act and Basel reforms as a necessary "process" while countering calls to break up the largest U.S. banks as shortsighted and unnecessarily disruptive

Stephen Scherr, Goldman Sachs Group's chief strategy officer, will take on the additional role of chief executive officer for banking operations.

The government-sponsored enterprises' risk-sharing deals are being hailed as an innovative approach for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to offload credit exposure to private markets. But their growing popularity is raising questions about how these transactions should be reported in financial statements.

BancAlliance, a network of community banks that has been snapping up loans from LendingClub, is weighing whether to suspend purchases on the online platform after the company said it's overhauling internal controls.

The pervasiveness of consumers' credit problems highlights why the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's upcoming short-term lending rules should avoid unintended consequences.

The payment giant's technology chief says he has an eye on bitcoin, the blockchain and the fintech competitors that have flooded the payments arena — and vows his company will consider partnering with some of them and can beat the rest.

The distributed ledger technology has an answer for updating every core function of the antiquated financial system.

Recent speculation that Comerica is on the block has sparked a conversation about how regulators would vet the sale of a SIFI.

Small-scale financial services companies such as storefront lenders and local money transmitters which use technology should have a choice of whether they are regulated by a state or federal regime.

Say what you will about these companies' longevity, were it not for the likes of Lending Club you wouldn't see banks like Wells Fargo introducing expedited loan products.

Can't anybody get along … for even five minutes? JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon called community banking leader Cam Fine a "jerk" on cable television. Fine responded by blasting megabanks for their role in the financial crisis.