No matter how often bank regulators, international standard setters, rating agencies, or financial reform advocates like me warn banks that climate change is serious, they are not heeding our warnings. Climate change disasters have significantly increased and intensified in the last several decades. According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, from 1980–2024, there have been slightly over 400 climate disaster events in the United States with losses exceeding $1 billion. Banks in the U.S. are not required to measure and report to regulators or market participants how climate change can impact their credit and investment portfolios; consequently, none of…

As banks continue to reinvent themselves using AI, data, cloud and other technologies, the industry finds itself in a paradox. A quarter century of digital has completely transformed banking, making it faster, cheaper, and more efficient than ever, with customers moving money in seconds, 24×7, through the push of a button. But, as a result, it’s made banking impersonal and created a sea of sameness as banks become less differentiated and lose the human connection fostered at the branch level. AI holds the solution to this paradox. It will enable banks to understand customers on a deeper level, power meaningful…

Our Nerds say:“When choosing a savings account, a high rate isn’t the only thing you’ll want to consider. You’ll want to see whether there are any monthly fees or withdrawal limits. “It’s also important to pick an account that meets your overall banking needs. If you want your checking and savings accounts to be at the same bank, for example, you’ll want to go with an institution that offers both checking and high-yield savings.”- Margarette Burnette, NerdWallet banking writerBest high-yield savings accounts: full list of editorial picksWhen selecting the best high-yield savings accounts, NerdWallet uses multiple data points, including monthly…

Over the past decade, the rise of the fintech industry has fueled remarkable innovation, placing powerful technological capabilities that otherwise might have been out of reach into the hands of companies and consumers. For companies, the fintech boom has also created something else: risks, in the form of complexity in their technology stacks. Large companies today sometimes rely on scores of fintech partners who provide an array of capabilities. These products are often deeply integrated—and sometimes shoehorned—into companies’ often sprawling technology architecture. Companies’ symbiotic relationship with fintech is providing real benefits. Within corporate tech platforms, fintech products are playing an…

Thanks to over a decade of Dodd-Frank and Basel III regulations, the Trump administration inherits a well-capitalized and liquid banking system. Squandering this gift would be very dangerous to the financial and mental health of Americans. Healthy banks are critical to the U.S. economy more than any other sector. Bank supervisors globally have a framework to assess banks’ capital, asset quality, management, earnings, liquidity and sensitivity to market risk (CAMELS). A few highlights below show that presently, the American banking system would earn a high CAMELS score. This score is due to the safeguards that bank regulations have required bank…

OBSERVATIONS FROM THE FINTECH SNARK TANK A new study from Cornerstone Advisors, looking at the financial services providers that Americans opened checking accounts with in 2024, underscores the continued dominance of digital banks and fintechs like Chime, PayPal, and Square in the checking account market. What’s going on in the checking account market? Digital banks and fintechs dominate new checking accounts opened…Digital banks and fintechs captured nearly half (44%) of all new checking accounts opened in 2024. Combined, megabanks (Bank of America, Chase, Citi, and Wells Fargo) and regional banks (those with $100 billion to $1 trillion in assets) accounted…

U.S. Credit Card Defaults Soar to Highest Level in 14 Years Experts are sounding the alarm over a new report indicating credit card loan defaults soared this year, warning the dam is about to break on Americans’ record-high consumer debt. During the first nine months of 2024, lenders wrote off more than $46 billion in seriously delinquent credit card loans, according to a report from the Financial Times citing data analyzed by BankRegData. That’s an increase of 50% from the first three quarters of 2023, and the highest since 2010. “High-income households are fine, but the bottom third of US…

OBSERVATIONS FROM THE FINTECH SNARK TANK Three things are certain in life: death, taxes, and fraud. Add a new certainty for 2025: A new director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Whoever the new director is (I’m willing to step in and step up, Mr. President), that person could help truly protect the financial lives of Americans by refocusing the bureau on fraud, scams, and cybersecurity. The Fraud, Scams, and Cybersecurity Problem According to a new study from Cornerstone Advisors, nearly 100 million Americans believe fraud, scams, and cybersecurity is the #1 issue the US government should focus on…

Update, Dec. 27, 2024: This story, originally published Dec. 25 now includes a breakdown of the know your customer attack threat methodology that the newly discovered dark web facial identity resource brings to the identity fraud table along with mitigation against the threat and an additional example of how banking biometrics can be bypassed by determined attackers. A dark web criminal operation that appears to have been farming facial ID images along with the genuine identity documents that accompany them has been unmasked, if you’ll pardon the pun, by threat intelligence researchers. Here’s everything you need to know about this…

CFPB Calls on Other Enforcement Agencies to Address Bait-and-Switch Credit Card Rewards Practices The CFPB issued a circular to other law enforcement agencies warning that some credit card companies operating rewards programs may be breaking the law. The CFPB’s circular highlighted various ways that credit card companies could violate federal law: Devaluing of Earned Rewards. Hiding the Conditions for Earning or Keeping Rewards. Fine print disclaimers and vague terms buried in a contract may conflict with prominent promotional language highlighting the rewards that consumers can earn. Revoking, canceling, or preventing consumers from redeeming rewards based on such conditions may also…