Features


SEC Issues Bitcoin Warning (May 8, 2014)

Suggesting that investments in digital currencies, such as Bitcoin, might carry with them a higher risk of fraud and a harder time recovering losses in the event of fraud or theft, the SEC yesterday issued an investor alert regarding the decentralized P2P currency.

Breaking bit

Bitcoin is the poster child of the cryptocurrency world, but it’s not alone. Michael Mainelli and Bob McDowell take a look at the real-world implications of the rise of AltCoins

Viewpoint: Dept. of Education Student Debit Card Report Doesn’t Make the Grade

Heading to college is all about the quest for knowledge. Part of that process is learning to use fact-based, impartial research to reach educated conclusions. Unfortunately, the March 10 Department of Education’s Inspector General’s report, “Third-Party Servicer Use of Debit Cards to Deliver Title IV Funds,” doesn’t make the grade.

LEI update: hidden costs prevent enthusiastic take-up

Until the world has a definitive Legal Entity Identifier, we are going to have to recognise that piecemeal adoption brings with it significant hidden costs in validating, enriching and mapping for regulatory purposes. If the total number of registered market participants is meant to include all the corporates that trade FX forwards, we are far short.

Mobile Solutions Can Assist Underbanked Consumers

According to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, innovative mobile banking features can help underserved consumers obtain safe, secure and convenient options that foster financial inclusion.

Retailer Group to Appeal Card Fee Settlement

In the latest development of the ongoing credit card interchange fee dispute between merchants and Visa and MasterCard, the National Retail Federation (NRF) has appealed a $5.7 billion settlement with the payment card networks.

Standards: the middle way

The financial services sector may be heavily regulated, but it is poorly standardised. A British Standards Institute-led initiative to drive more adoption of voluntary standards could reap considerable benefits for the industry.

Innovators’ Spotlight: Womply

San Francisco startup offers merchants a data-driven business insights platform that does the heavy lifting for them.

LEIs and CDOs: why aren’t data professionals taking the reins?

With regulators agreeing that “higher expectations” must be met by G-SIFIs for risk data aggregation and reporting by 2016, firms are now under huge pressure to provide data strategies and implementation plans and end denial about any shortcomings.

The joy of Basel III

Basel III has transformed liquidity risk management departments into glorified regulatory functions, according to a new report by analyst firm Celent. As if this good news was not enough to be getting on with, the research house also inevitably concludes that banks will have to change their risk data, models, appetite, organisational and analytics frameworks too.

FSAs Could Get Bump as Treasury Loses ‘Use-or-Lose’ Rule (Nov. 20, 2013)

The No. 1 barrier to consumer adoption of flexible spending accounts (FSAs) has been removed. The U.S. Treasury and IRS on Halloween announced they were changing their stance on the so-called “use-or-lose” rule, enabling consumers for the first time to rollover up to $500 from their FSAs instead of forfeiting those funds back to their employers.

Keeping the customer profitable

Separating customer billing from core systems can have dramatic effects on the bottom line – a study by Boston Consulting Group at one bank found that 17% of clients were unprofitable.

Cordray: ‘Change is Coming’ to Prepaid Card Industry (Nov. 14, 2013)

Change is coming to the prepaid card industry, whether by regulation or legislation, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray promised lawmakers this week at a Senate Banking Committee hearing, but he declined to provide a timetable. “[Prepaid cards] are one of the problem areas in consumer financial protection because they’re a hole in the […]