Economy

Consumer advocacy groups are urging regulators to take a closer look at how alternative lenders are using the stockpiles of personal information they collect.

Apple Pay has been out for a year, so many of its partners have had time to reflect on the various issues it has faced since launch. Bank and credit union executives shared their experiences at SourceMedia's 2015 PayThink event at the end of September.

Banks worldwide are in danger of losing significant profits in several lending areas to nonbank alternative lenders, according to a McKinsey study.

Emclaire Financial in Emlenton, Pa., has exited the Small Business Lending Fund.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is planning to issue a final rule in the next 12 months to require Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to better serve underserved markets, including manufactured housing, the agency said Thursday.

Avant, an online lending platform that focuses on borrowers with marred credit, announced an agreement Wednesday to raise $325 million in equity financing from blue-chip investors.

In comments to the Treasury Department, traditional financial institutions are calling for more oversight of an industry that is fast becoming a big competitive threat.

WASHINGTON — Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby sent a letter to regulators this week raising concerns about the role of the Financial Stability Board in designating large banks as systemically risky and whether the international council has undue influence on U.S. policy.

Bankers need to show they are in control of relationships with outside vendors, must be ready to respond to M&A-related protests and should be as concerned about economic growth as interest rates, according to the St. Louis Fed's supervisory chief.

Credible, a comparison shopping site for private student loans, announced that it has raised $10 million from a group of investors that includes some big names in marketplace lending.

Cloud Lending Solutions, a technology provider to marketplace lenders and other finance companies, announced that it has raised $8 million in venture funding.

A bipartisan group of housing experts is seeking to inject more discussion about the mortgage market into presidential campaigns.

The most recent outcry came from four housing groups that warned lawmakers last week that the proposal by the Federal Housing Finance Agency "would make harmful changes" to the FHLB membership rules.

It's hard to decide which is more surprising: that the largest U.S. bank has almost abandoned the business of making home loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration, that lots of big banks could be right behind it, or that the FHA might not even need to care.

Rules dealing with liquidity and other market-related items may be a better strategy for asset managers than higher capital requirements, said Federal Reserve Board Gov. Daniel Tarullo.

As Uber-like business models perpetuate, bringing more contractors into a world where their job functions are handled primarily through a mobile app, there are still some pain points for which plastic is well suited.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including how postal banking could help low-income people in the U.S. and the continuing debate over interchange fees.

Competition is heating up among mobile wallet makers, but not everyone is racing toward the same goal. Many are starting to look past Near Field Communication-based contactless payments, championing newer technologies as well as reviving older business models.

Once placed inside of payment cards, computer chips can catalyze uses well beyond merchant security, argues MasterCard's Carlos Cornejo, who adds the card network plans to expand card utility through the mix of chips and tablets.

Officials signaled that Hudson City Savings Bank's nearly $33 million settlement over redlining charges is only the first in what is likely to be a string of other cases.