China's central bank barred financial institutions from handling Bitcoin transactions, moving to regulate the virtual currency after an 89-fold jump in its value sparked a surge of investor interest in the country.

WASHINGTON — John Farmakides, president and CEO of Lafayette Federal Credit Union, testified before a Congressional subcommittee Thursday morning about impediments to credit union business lending.

Several Canadian banks have taken on the challenge of managing and protecting their customers' usernames and passwords across banking and government sites. U.S. banks are invited to join a similar pilot starting in the U.S.

WASHINGTON – The NAFCU Board on Wednesday met with the Federal Reserve to discuss credit union issues and present the findings of its “2013 NAFCU Report on Credit Unions.”

WASHINGTON — Rose Bartolomucci, president and CEO of Towpath Credit Union testified Wednesday before the House Committee on Financial Services on behalf of CUNA to advocate for regulatory relief the credit union community.

WASHINGTON — In the wake of Wednesday's legislative hearing by the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit — "Examining Regulatory Relief Proposals for Community Financial Institutions," and the proposals that would benefit federal credit unions — NAFCU weighed in with a letter.

Fraud prevention provider ValidSoft has joined the Fast Identity Online Alliance to help create standards for online authentication, the company announced Dec. 3.

MADISON, Wis. — CUNA today has released a new survey aiming to get a better understanding from credit unions of what does and does not work about the exam process.

WASHINGTON — Big Valley Federal Credit Union President and CEO Linda Sweet testified Tuesday morning on behalf of NAFCU before the House Small Business Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight and Regulation on "Regulatory Landscape: Burdens on Small Financial Institutions."

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has taken a cautious approach to its oversight of payday lenders so far, but is likely to issue new regulations covering the industry next year, according to several industry observers.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — NCUA issued three prohibition orders for November, banning the following individuals from participating in any federally insured financial institution:

Banks in Hong Kong have established standards for the creation of a Near Field Communication-based mobile payment infrastructure in the region.

The PCI Security Standards Council's hacker-inspired data mapping plans are crucial to protecting super-interconnected enterprise systems.

RICHMOND, Texas — The National Association of CUSOs said it was cautiously optimistic about the revised CUSO rule NCUA handed down at its November meeting but continues to be concerned about potential "scope creep" in the future.

Rather than simply continuing to absorb the losses from account takeover attacks, institutions should be reevaluating the effectiveness of their authentication methods and increase security to better prevent fraud.

Just as U.S. policymakers are taking a more supportive approach to Bitcoin and other virtual currencies, countries that have taken a hands-off approach may soon weigh in with regulations that mirror those of the U.S.

As a fast, low-cost payment system, Bitcoin provides healthy competition for legacy banks. It's also a bulwark for financial privacy and freedom of speech.

The Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission are telling a U.S. Senate committee that Bitcoins are legitimate financial instruments, boosting prospects for wider acceptance of the virtual currency.

GrowLife, a company that serves the legal cannabis industry, has developed kiosk-based retail point of sale software.

The central bank is making clear it has doubts about the private sector's ability to implement a faster electronic payments system on its own.