Economy

As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finishes regulations dealing with mortgage data reporting, a similar set of requirements for small business loans is waiting in the wings.

The smartphone can add significant security to payments, but it is also a tool that fraudsters can exploit. Researchers and scammers have already found several unique attacks that rely on mobile devices.

The "buy buttons" that are popping up on social media platforms are intentionally simple, often meant to enable one-click purchases of individual products. But as the technology's popularity grows, so must its capabilities.

Nearly seven years after the financial crisis, the uncomfortable truth for the banking industry is that populist anger remains alive and well.

Walter Investment Management has received approval from Freddie Mac to hold the mortgage servicing rights on $3.3 billion in residential mortgage loans.

Dylan Richard was the lead engineer for President Obama's reelection campaign, where the use of unstructured "social data" forever changed how presidential win the support of their constituents. Four years later, he's one of PayPal's newest recruits.

In a rapidly growing market outside the purview of the Truth in Lending Act or state usury caps, online lenders' rates and fees can be next to impossible to compare.

Bank of the West in San Francisco has hired three development officers for Small Business Administration loans.

FirstMerit in Akron, Ohio, has reached an agreement with Paychex to provide payroll-processing services.

The Federal Housing Administration has resolved a long-standing conflict with municipalities and private companies that back "green energy" loans that is expected to benefit banks and other mortgage lenders. The next question is whether the regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages will do the same.

Fannie Mae is revamping its affordable mortgage program to make it easier for low- and moderate-income families to qualify for low-down-payment loans.

Loans to first-time homeowners and others with low credit scores are a big part of the Federal Housing Administration's growth in purchase mortgages since the agency cut premiums.

Marketplace lenders and other alternative finance companiesshould be perceived not as a threat, but rather as a group of pioneers opening up opportunities for those banks that elect to buy, build or partner in this market.

More financial services companies are landing on MaRS, a corner of Toronto where developers are building new uses for smartphones, wearables and alternative currencies all under the same roof.

Stock fluctuations will fuel investment banking fees in the short run, but a prolonged shock would complicate bank M&A and could tighten margins, crimp wealth management fees and present other risks.

The lack of liquidity in the bond markets has drawn significant attention from policymakers, but agreeing on what is causing it, and whether new regulations required by Dodd-Frank are to blame, may be impossible.

Some large U.S. banks are likely to be impacted by recent volatility in emerging markets like Brazil and China. But their opaque risk metrics make it difficult for investors to judge banks' level of exposure.

The failure to prosecute bankers as a result of the financial crisis has sparked an ongoing debate about whether enforcement officials lacked the will to move forward with any cases — or didn't have enough proof that any crimes had been committed.

Nothing touches off an argument more than questions about whether the CFPB will allow any marketing services agreements to continue. Some mortgage lenders say no and are winding down their agreements, others insist regulators can be satisfied, and still others are just plain confused.

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