Economy

The banking industry as a whole will survive startups. But many individual banks will fail to make the changes necessary to stay relevant in a rapidly changing market.

The San Francisco bank has produced enough growth in mortgages, C&I and other areas and made other moves to offset low rates. It is a hopeful example for mortgage-heavy banks and other lenders battling tight margins.

Still reeling from underwriting guidelines that went into effect last year, some small lenders are worried that a new mortgage disclosure regime might be the thing that pushes them over the edge.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the owner of several tax-preparation outlets that allegedly steered low-income clients into expensive loans against their anticipated refunds.

Marketplace lenders are aggressively marketing their loans as a way to refinance expensive credit card debt. And with more affordable interest rates and faster loan application processes, there's reason to believe that firms like Lending Club and SoFi will beat out banks.

Prosper Marketplace, the second-largest consumer finance marketplace lender by origination volume, and OnDeck Capital, a direct online lender to small businesses, have agreed to partner on customer referrals.

General Electric's plan to sell most of its financing arm has been hailed as a sign that financial reform is successfully persuading "too big to fail" firms to break up. But the end of GE Capital just means that the conglomerates left standing are even more homogeneous and risk-prone.

Experts from the banking, retail and technology sectors gathered last week for SourceMedia's annual Card Forum and Expo, sharing their predictions for the payments industry's next step. Some were involved in Apple Pay from day one; others are looking past it to the next big thing.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including thoughts on regulatory complexity, Jamie Dimon's defense of the megabank model, and how vulnerable banks really are to tech startups.

Two House Financial Services subcommittee chairmen are urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to delay enforcement of a new disclosure regime due to take effect this summer until Jan. 1.

General Electric's decision to sell most of its financial assets marks the most prominent victory in regulators' quest to incentivize breakups of large conglomerates. But it may turn out to be a one-off event.

Only 10 people in the bank were allowed to know what the project's goal was, and the other Apple Pay partners were known only by code names. But even though Apple was running the show pre-launch, U.S. Bank had a daunting task ahead of it once the restrictions lifted and Apple revealed its mobile wallet to the world.

JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon tried to defend his bank's size and scope by suggesting that community banks are just as vulnerable in a crisis. But he succeeded only in proving that Wall Street firms will make the same mistakes all over again unless the government takes steps to disincentivize their risky behavior.

Idea Bank in Poland aims to win over new small-business customers with an Uber-like service that orders cars equipped with ATMs and cash deposit machines to drive to them.

Independent lenders rebut suggestions that they pose a greater risk to FHA (and hence taxpayers) than the large banks.

Bitreserve, a payments startup that aims to give consumers the speed, transparency and cost advantages of Bitcoin without the currency fluctuations, hired a former Barclays executive as its president and chief operating officer, a newly created position.

The Topeka FHLB's plan to allow participations in newly issued mortgage pools may benefit members institutions and the bank itself – and could soon be imitated by other Home Loan Banks.

The partnership with MAX Exchange is designed to enable community banks to sell their loans and get better pricing.

If the Financial Stability Oversight Council was hoping for any kind of consensus on whether and how it should regulate asset management companies, the feedback it has received on its request for comment is likely disappointing. Asset management companies, their representatives and public interest groups presented widely divergent visions about what, if anything, the council should do.

The shift in market composition is fueling concerns that if defaults rise, the Federal Housing Administration would have a harder time making lenders eat the losses on poorly underwritten loans.