Economy

Blockchain technology associated with Bitcoin has caught the eye of bankers, but now comes the hard part: figuring out where it can be used — international payments, treasury services or elsewhere — without wasting a lot of time and money in experimentation.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including banks' subpar shareholder value and how big-data advocates can better communicate with critics who worry about the technology's potential discriminatory effects.

The refinance mortgage market's unexpected resilience in 2015 has come as the result of a number of well-timed factors coalescing to create a welcomed surprise to lenders.

Funding Circle has formed a partnership with H&R Block to provide loans to the tax preparation firm’s small-business customers.

Gregory Baer, the head of regulatory policy for JPMorgan Chase, will be the next president of The Clearing House Association, the group announced Friday.

The Justice Department's announcement that it would target individual executives at banks and other companies that are being investigated for wrongdoing has sparked a debate about whether the move is actually substantive or instead just designed to boost the agency's public image.

The rising costs to service mortgages reflects a market where there are not only downsides to being too small, but hurdles to being too large — raising the question of whether there's a middle ground where servicers are not too big, not too small, but just right.

Arthur Levitt, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission from 1993 to 2001, will become an adviser to the marketplace lender Social Finance.

Orchard Platform, which provides services to institutional investors in the marketplace lending industry, has raised $30 million in additional funding.

Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry said banks could consider loan-to-value ratios above 90% to help revitalize areas hurt by the housing crisis.

The key to housing finance reform is a new securitization model that allows the private sector to price and absorb the majority of housing credit risk.

Graduate business students — some of whom previously worked at traditional financial services companies — have been organizing fintech clubs at universities to explore the dramatic changes in banking and to find potential employers.

With summer recess ending, banking agencies are about to embark on a busy policymaking schedule leading up to the end of the year.

The world's biggest banks may gain greater flexibility in meeting new crisis rules as the Financial Stability Board adjusts its total loss-absorbing capacity proposal to eliminate bias against decentralized lenders and opportunities for regulatory arbitrage.

What does a small bank do when a much larger bank encroaches on its home turf?

The marketplace lender CommonBond announced that it has raised $35 million, which it plans to use to expand its operations across the country.

Prestige Financial Services, which focuses on car buyers who are in the bankruptcy process, is trying to keep pace in a fast-growing market.

Forget China — for U.S. banks, Canada carries more weight. Canada's energy-led recession looks harmless for now, but the tight connections between Canada and American banks make it potentially dangerous if it becomes prolonged.

The credit union regulator received nearly 3,100 comment letters tied to plans to loosen restrictions on business lending, with a vast majority opposing any changes.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including demands for more transparency on banks' small-business lending and why the average American should care about the GSE investors lawsuit.