Economy

GOP lawmakers on Wednesday harshly criticized the Federal Housing Administration's recent move to lower insurance premiums, saying it violates the law and will be used to entice borrowers into predatory loans.

Thirty-four percent of merchants interviewed late last year for an Aite Group research report on EMV readiness had never heard of the U.S. migration to EMV-chip payment cards, despite the fast-approaching October 2015 deadline set by the card networks.

It may take years for most small merchants to accept EMV-chip cards in the U.S., but the country's ultimate goal of adopting the secure payment technology is coming together faster than what was seen in other EMV markets.

Outcries about regulators' negligence in ending too big to fail ignore a number of major developments since the financial crisis, including the new orderly liquidation authority and the overhaul of the regulatory capital framework.

Big banks and institutional investors picked up the pace of loan approvals for small businesses in January, while small banks and alternative lenders continued to see their approval rates decline, according to a monthly lending index.

In unusually expansive comments, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray provided new details Tuesday about proposals due soon from the agency while offering insights into an internal battle over easing a key mortgage rule.

A better way to deal with the "too big to fail" problem would be to impose higher capital requirements or to issue "rescue" bonds to bank investors.

Apple's mobile wallet has been out for just four months, and already it has shaken up the way mobile payments operate at the point of sale. It has faced pushback from some merchants and banks, but it has also popularized new forms of security and other payment technology.

Samsung is widely reported to be adding mobile-payment technology from LoopPay to its next Galaxy smartphone. Such an approach would be vastly different from that of Apple, PayPal or MCX's CurrentC — and it would address a key issue with LoopPay's own business model.

The online loan marketplace Lending Club has formed a partnership with a nationwide network of community bankers.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is raising concerns about the transparency and clarity of reverse mortgages based on more than a thousand complaints it received about the product.

It's a mortgage on top of a mortgage, and at least one lender is making these loans again through brokers.

Amazon.com is a savvy and influential company in the e-commerce world, but its efforts in payments have been less consistent. It has significantly changed the way people redeem rewards and shop on third-party sites, but it has proven less successful in person-to-person payments and the mobile point of sale.

Community Financial Corp. in Waldorf, Md., raised $23 million from a debt offering.

CashCall, an online loan servicer, reached a $1 million settlement with California's Department of Business Oversight on Thursday.

Wells Fargo has agreed to pay $4 million to settle charges that it made secured credit card loans in violation of New York law.

The new Financial Stability Oversight Council guidelines promise better public transparency and greater engagement with firms under review.

Banks stayed away from construction lending for years after it collapsed and contributed to the financial crisis. But low interest rates and other factors have gotten some developments off the ground, leading to construction lending's comeback.

The expiration of the federal Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act leaves servicers dealing with a patchwork of state laws and investor rules, while renters living in REO properties are at a greater risk of eviction.

In an interview, FHFA Director Mel Watt said there needs to be greater clarity to ensure some entities aren't taking improper advantage of Federal Home Loan Bank membership.