Economy

The Starbucks gift card is the foundation the coffee chain's mobile and rewards strategy, and for good reason. In 2013, one in eight Americans received a Starbucks gift card as a holiday gift. In 2014, it was one in seven.

BB&T and KeyCorp's quarterly results showed how more diversified regional banks can turn to their insurance sales, investment banking and other fee generators for backup until interest rates improve. Whereas the smaller Huntington Bancshares needed strong loan growth in a quarter (and year) when fees fell.

Online marketplace lender OnDeck Capital has launched a new platform to better enable institutional investors to buy small business loans OnDeck originates.

The consumer bureau and Maryland's AG allege the loan officers received consumer data and other services in return for business referrals.

Regulators have come to view macroprudential regulations as the guiding light of financial policy. But whether that strategy is working is open to debate.

New, experimental consumer marketing programs have played a significant role in the way technology has upended the payment business in recent years. And Visa is looking to get in on the action.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council said its process of reviewing large nonbanks should include earlier engagement with companies and more public disclosure, among other changes.

2014 ended roughly for some of the biggest payment companies, and 2015 will bring even more challenges from rapidly changing technology and nimble startups.

Hearing arguments in Texas case, Justice Scalia and others were skeptical that the controversial legal theory used in fair housing cases should be invalidated.

Fifth Third Bancorp and U.S. Bancorp say they will delicately approach expenses in 2015 — or at least until rates rise. They are investing where they must, but pinching where they can, and trying to manage expectations on loan growth.

U.S. banks are cutting off payday lenders' access to a database of account information used to evaluate potential borrowers as regulators seek to rein in abusive practices.

Five Star Bank is the latest financial institution to settle claims that it avoided lending to minorities. More redlining cases can be expected, industry experts say.

While banks have generally been cool to virtual currency, the technology that powers Bitcoin is of considerable interest — enough to draw millions of investment dollars from several traditional financial companies.

United Community Banks in Blairsville, Ga., reported higher quarterly profit because of loan growth and higher fee revenue.

Julian Castro, secretary of housing and urban development, said 2015 will be a year of "housing opportunity" as the economy continues its rebound.

With technology at the forefront of payments, it’s tempting for industry players to become so enamored with the gee-whiz factor of the next new thing that they forget their end users—the consumers who make the payments.

As the trend continues toward “smart terminals” with integrated software for payments and other services, criminals seem likely to step up efforts to get their hands on a new treasure chest of data at the point of sale.

The federal government's recent decisions to lower annual premiums for new borrowers and reduce down payment requirements suggest it has little interest in making room for private capital in the mortgage market.

Across the world, startups are using digital delivery to challenge companies like Western Union and MoneyGram, a battle that in recent months has become increasingly heated.

In a State of the Union address declaring that “the shadow of crisis has passed,” President Obama said he will veto efforts to roll back financial reforms further while he reiterated support for a bill addressing cyber threats.