Fintech regulations

The new law, which is modeled on a similar effort in the United Kingdom, aims to lure financial firms to the desert. It has drawn support from business organizations but opposition from consumer groups — a dynamic that is likely to be replayed in other states.

Behavioral biometrics are attractive because they are easy to implement, hard for criminals to spoof and not subject to the same privacy protections applied to thumbprints or retina scans.

Throughout the “user journey” from shopping to payment, a consumer can make different decisions without leaving the digital environment, whether through his mobile, his computer, or a digital assistant such as Amazon Echo or Google Home, writes Ignasi Barri, who works on business development, innovation and digital transformation at GFT IT Consulting.

As the agency pulls back its enforcement efforts, it opens the door for state authorities to pursue more cases against financial startups for their data collection and privacy practices.

Senior leaders at the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said they want examiners to be more understanding of the budding partnerships forming between banks and fintech firms.

House legislation to reverse a federal court decision on state interest rate caps would increase access to credit, not expand predatory lending as critics have argued.

The online retailer wants to offer customers checking accounts but won’t become a bank; Quarles says the rule is too complex and “not working well.”

State-level support will give the digital assets industry much needed footing, said Caitlin Long, a former managing director at Morgan Stanley.

The negotiations between Amazon and big banks like JPMorgan Chase and Capital One to offer a checking-account-like product pose significant questions for regulators about the e-commerce giant pushing further into the banking space.

A top Treasury Department official on Monday said the administration's forthcoming report on regulating nonbanks will tackle questions around financial technology companies and whether they need to be regulated more like banks.