Economy

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has finalized tweaks to a mortgage disclosure rule set to take effect later this year.

The digital-only offshoot of Customers Bank combines edgier technology — like letting consumers snap photos of their driver's license to open accounts — with a new business model that counts on interchange revenue rather than fees.

BBVA and USAA are among a group of participants in a $75 million investment in the Bitcoin wallet provider Coinbase, an unusual move given the cool posture most financial institutions have taken toward virtual currency.

Even though Apple Pay hasn't yet launched in the U.K., experts in the EMV-compliant nation are eager to bring over Apple's mobile wallet to improve card-not-present security.

A Wall Street lobbying group said President Barack Obama's plan to raise $110 billion over the next decade through a new tax on financial companies could stifle economic growth and make banks less likely to lend.

Industry officials insist the Federal Reserve's extension of a key compliance deadline was meant to aid the implementation process, but critics say it could lead to another effort on Capitol Hill to roll back key chunks of the controversial regulation.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week.

The ATM is one of the oldest self-service technologies in banking, and mobile is one of the newest. But surprisingly, this odd couple of technologies has a lot of synergy.

Merchant acquirers can learn a lot from their new competitors about how to stand out in a crowd where everybody appears to be the same.

Facing the prospect of losing its license in California, Ocwen would be wise to settle its probe by state regulators in a timely manner, observers said. If it doesn't, the mortgage servicer could lose significant revenue and might even face a cash crunch.

Retailers are adopting many innovations to counter the lure of online shopping, which is becoming more of a threat to brick-and-mortar stores as e-commerce spreads to a growing number of Internet-connected devices.

Regulators on Thursday posted another round of abridged resolution plans for regional U.S. banks and scores of foreign-owned institutions.

While put-backs and litigation risk are widely recognized as factors that have contributed to tight credit conditions, another factor — high servicing costs for nonperforming loans — is being overlooked.

FS Card announced Thursday that Republic Bank & Trust in Louisville, Ky., will issue its new subprime credit card, which is scheduled to be launched this spring.

Banks in Europe are selling digital gift cards alongside traditional bank accounts, allowing online consumers to buy credit for Facebook, Nintendo, Spotify and other content providers.

A federal agency's plan to tighten membership rules for Federal Home Loan banks would hurt community banks and credit unions — and could endanger the financial system, according to a broad array of stakeholders, including state regulators, lawmakers and institutions.

Mortgage application volume experienced the largest week-over-week gain in more than six years, but despite the FHA's announced cuts to insurance premiums, interest in conventional loans was greater.

Merchant acquirers have faced disruption from a number of powerful new entrants to the market in recent years, including Square, Apple and Google. Now, a pro football team is getting into the game.

Apriva is integrating its payments gateway with software from a firm calledPOS on Cloud that performs backend functions that include inventory management, reporting, accounting and email marketing.

Regardless of the outcome, MetLife's decision to fight the Financial Stability Oversight Council's ruling that the insurer is "systemically important" will have serious implications for the council's ability to rein in nonbanks.