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Are mobile payments a service in search of a market?

by admin | Thu, 03/18/2010 - 06:48

Consumers are warming up to using their mobile phones to manage their bank accounts, but some wonder whether people want to use them to pay for items in stores or to transfer money.

Felix Salmon on the "perfect overdraft"

by admin | Sat, 03/13/2010 - 03:01

Over at Reuters, Felix Salmon is touting another kindler, gentler version of overdraft protection that he says is standard in the U.K. (Hint: it sounds a lot like what USAA offers.)

Consumers might opt in for custom overdraft

by admin | Sat, 03/13/2010 - 03:01

Does overdraft protection have to be an all-or-nothing proposition?
Obviously, no one wants to pay a $35 overdraft fee on the proverbial $5 cup of coffee. But a number of people might be willing to pay that sum to stop a $1500 mortgage check from bouncing.

Has the pendulum swung too far?

by admin | Wed, 03/10/2010 - 11:09

An unprecedented rise in enforcement actions against banks has caught even longtime industry observers off guard.

Once a banker ...

by admin | Wed, 03/03/2010 - 14:09

There are plenty of stories about people changing careers when their jobs in finance disappeared. But according to LinkedIn, the social networking Web site, people who transitioned to other industries were the exception. Most stayed in the financial space.

No shortage of opinions on Fannie, Freddie's future

by admin | Wed, 03/03/2010 - 14:09

While the Obama administration has punted into next year any decision on how to reform the housing finance giants, there's no shortage of opinion about what should be done.

No shortage of opinions on Fannie, Freddie's future

by admin | Mon, 03/01/2010 - 17:04

While it doesn't look like the Obama administration will get around to reforming the housing finance market anytime soon, there's no shortage of opinion about what should be done with the GSEs.

Why Krugman is wrong on regulatory reform

by admin | Mon, 03/01/2010 - 17:04

As the winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics and a longtime economics professor at Princeton, there is little doubt Paul Krugman knows more about financial services than most. Which makes it all the more unfortunate that his recent op-ed arguing against passage of financial reform is so, well, uninformed.

"Daily Show's" riff on Card Act: "calorie charts" for borrowers

by admin | Thu, 02/25/2010 - 12:06

Host Jon Stewart's extensively detailed rant mocked both credit cardholders and issuers for their behavior. "All we needed was the information ... Like when they put up the calorie charts at McDonald's ... and you continued to eat no matter what."

When should the GSEs push back loans?

by admin | Thu, 02/25/2010 - 12:06

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have been stepping up their repurchase requests since being put into conservatorship by the government in September 2008, as they try to manage the mountain of delinquencies on their books. But as those requests multiply, it's clear lenders aren't just rolling over.