consumer-finance

Why Allow Only Banks to Issue Credit Cards?

08/22/12

Qualified nonbanks should be able to issue credit cards. This has only rarely been possible up to now - a situation that has warped the industry's structure, giving banks undeserved dominance.

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Mortgage Industry's Need for Speed Played Big Role in Crisis

08/20/12

Technologies like automated underwriting held great promise to manage risk while easing the pain of the mortgage experience for borrowers. But a lack of discipline ushered in an environment where simple rules decide who obtains credit.

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Credit Card Swipe Fee Battle Far from Over

08/09/12

The judge overseeing the Visa/MasterCard swipe fee dispute will not approve the settlement until the second half of 2013. In the interim, this deal must get through numerous hurdles.

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Principal Forgiveness: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

08/08/12

The mortgage-writedown program that the FHFA rejected would have produced little benefit to the housing market. But principal forgiveness, done right, can do a lot of good while minimizing potential harm.

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Is Swipe Fee Reform Benefiting the Banking Industry?

07/31/12

A year after the Fed enacted the Durbin Amendment, predictions that swipe fee reform would kill free checking, hurt credit unions and stifle competition have failed to come true.

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Reducing Mortgage Principal Is Not a 'Moral' Issue

07/30/12

Concerns about moral hazard should not prevent Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from helping underwater homeowners avoid foreclosure.

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Editor's Note

07/27/12

Several BankThink opinion columns written by Joel Sucher, published between October 2011 and June 2012, mentioned the law firm of Stephen J. Baum, Litton Loan Servicing, or both. The columns should have disclosed that Baum's firm, working on behalf of Litton, had attempted to foreclose on the writer's property in 2009. American Banker's editors were unaware of this history at the time the columns were published....

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Here's Why the Visa/MasterCard Swipe Fee Agreement Will Fail

07/27/12

If the agreement is approved, any merchant who has accepted Visa or MasterCard since 2004 will be unable to sue regarding interchange, network rules, merchant fees and related issues, even if that merchant is not receiving funds from the settlement.

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Customers Want Free Checking, But Will Pay for Frills

07/27/12

While customers resent paying fees for traditional banking services, they are receptive to paying fees for emerging services that support their financial lifestyles.

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It's High Time for High-Frequency Banking

07/24/12

You should be able to move your money as fast as you can make it. But the banking system today works about as speedily as the Post Office.

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