consumer-finance

Payday-Loan Pugilism; Recruiting Tomorrow's Bankers; Pandit's Unsung Idea

08/16/13

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

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Mortgage Markets Will Pay Price for CFPB's Contradictory Policies

08/16/13

Nowhere has the piecemeal approach to post-crisis regulation been more apparent than with the CFPB's Qualified Mortgage rules and its aggressive stance on the fair lending doctrine of disparate impact.

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Seizing Underwater Mortgages: An Idea That's All Wet

08/15/13

The latest municipal attempt to seize underwater mortgages by eminent domain is an abuse of this most awesome governmental power.

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Holdout Banks Cling to Debt-Trap Loans

08/15/13

A response to Bill Isaac's Aug. 13 post, "Why Payday Loans are Good for Millions of People."

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A New Wave of Fair-Lending Activism

08/14/13

The Occupy Wall Street protests a few years ago set the stage for the coming return of fair-lending gadflies like the "mother of CRA," Gale Cincotta.

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Why Payday Loans are Good for Millions of People

08/13/13

I applaud the government's efforts to weed out bad actors but I'm deeply concerned about the unintended consequences this could have on much needed financial services for underbanked people.

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Why JPMorgan's Regulatory Fixes May Fall Short

08/12/13

Faced with a litany of legal and regulatory woes, JPMorgan Chase has vowed to minimize wrongdoing and tighten internal controls. But with financial incentives unchanged and regulators on the warpath, virtuous talk may not be enough to prevent more troubles.

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How to Perfect Your Bank's Website

08/09/13

Its landing page should make it easy for prospective customers to see where to sign-up for an account, research interest rates and apply for a loan or credit card.

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Fear of Boomerang Mortgages Still Hinders the Market

08/08/13

The Federal Housing Finance Agency should further narrow the circumstances in which Fannie or Freddie can make a lender repurchase a loan. This would encourage lending and strengthen the recovery.

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Swipe Fees and Free Markets: How Durbin Can Help Payments

08/08/13

Now the pressure is on banks to develop creative new products and services and work harder to show their value.

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