News

Anti-money laundering solution provider Verafin announced on Monday a partnership with Fundtech to integrate its PAYplus payment platforms with Verafin’s FRAML solution, which allows financial institutions to prevent wire fraud in real time. “When we started to look for fraud … Read More…

National Association of Federal Credit Unions President and CEO Fred Becker recently met with Jennifer Shasky Calvery, the director of Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, to discuss the regulatory burden on credit unions. Becker voiced concern regarding the impact of the … Read More…

Ohio-based Huntington Bank debuted its new commercial credit card, which combines online card and data management tools, allowing businesses to streamline invoice and expense payment workflows. “Huntington’s new commercial card will help enable businesses to improve working capital, streamline corporate … Read More…

Fifth Third Bancorp recently published its annual report on corporate social responsibility, demonstrating the tactics used by the bank to “earn a reputation for being a good corporate citizen.” The bank focuses on several areas, including consumers, communities, businesses, employees … Read More…

NCR Corp. announced on Monday an agreement with LevelUp to integrate its mobile payment and loyalty solution with NCR’s restaurant POS systems, thereby allowing restaurants to accept mobile payments. LevelUp will initially interface with NCR’s Aloha POS while developing its … Read More…

Dan Berger, the executive vice president of government affairs at the National Association of Federal Credit Unions, advocated on Monday several measures intended to help credit unions avoid security breaches. Berger praised the House of Representatives for passing cybersecurity measures … Read More…

Contactless payments in Europe rose by 46 percent in the first quarter to reach approximately 19 million transactions, with the U.K. leading the trend. “Customers have cards, lots of businesses have the technology and all our research suggests that customers … Read More…

The National Association of Federal Credit Unions urged financial regulators in a Monday letter to better coordinate their activities. The letter was sent in advance of Tuesday’s Senate Banking Committee hearing on the annual report of the Financial Stability Oversight … Read More…

EMVCo, the EMV standards entity owned by American Express, MasterCard, Visa and JCB, announced on Monday that China UnionPay has joined as its latest member. The entity’s management structure has been altered to accommodate UnionPay representation on the board and … Read More…

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) announced her opposition last week to several derivatives bills passed by the House Financial Services Committee, echoing concerns voiced by U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew earlier this month. The HFSC passed nine bills earlier this month … Read More…

LendingTree, an online home loan offer site, launched a credit card comparison tool last week that will allow users to compare 30 different credit cards based on preferences and financial priorities. “LendingTree has always recognized the financial benefits of comparison … Read More…

The National Association of Federal Credit Unions said in a Friday letter to the CFPB that it would oppose measures that could unintentionally hurt credit union lending by restricting the private student loan market. “For college students in need of … Read More…

Credit Card Consolidation Loan recently urged consumers to examine debt relief options to avoid payment delinquencies, which could hurt credit scores and affect interest rates. Data from the New York Federal Reserve showed a 55 percent increase in the average … Read More…

The American Bankers Association recently expressed support for the Community Lending Enhancement and Regulatory Relief Act sponsored by Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.). The legislation—H.R. 1750—is intended to ease the regulatory burden for community-based financial institutions. In a Friday letter to … Read More…

The National Association of Federal Credit Unions recently expressed support for some changes proposed by the National Credit Union Administration but added some alterations should be made. “We agree with the NCUA that use of plain language would help credit … Read More…

The CFPB published technical amendments and clarified definitions last week for “rural” and “underserved” under its mortgage escrow rule. The rules require credit unions to set up and maintain escrow accounts for five years after originating loans, an increase from … Read More…

E-commerce firm Merchant e-Solutions announced last week the SuiteApp, a new reconciliation app to be used with NetSuite’s SuiteCloud Computing Platform that will allow merchants to more easily reconcile credit card payments in one central location. The addition of the … Read More…

Source Financial announced on Friday that WikiPay Payment Network, a mobile and online cash-based money transfer and payment platform, is now available to consumers. The platform allows consumers to send money for a $1.00 fee on any mobile device or … Read More…

Mountain America Credit Union recently introduced the MyExpress Debit card that provides cardholders with the same benefits as a prepaid card, minus monthly deposit and maintenance fees. The Visa-branded card allows members to deposit and spend only what they require, … Read More…

The National Credit Union Administration recently expressed support for President Obama’s move to nominate former Oregon State Sen. Rick Metsger to fill a vacant seat on the three-member board. Metsger, who is currently the president of Parakletos Strategic Public Affairs, … Read More…

Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) introduced a bill on Thursday that would raise the credit union member business lending cap, a move advocated by the National Association of Federal Credit Union’s five-point plan for regulatory relief. S. 968, the Small Business … Read More…

Michael S. Gibson, the director of banking supervision and regulation at the Federal Reserve, recently said that while regulators have made substantial progress in resolving systemically important financial firms, cross-border resolution remains an obstacle. Gibson said that while the U.S. … Read More…

The National Retail Federation called on President Obama on Thursday to work with both parties in the Senate to fill the National Labor Relations Board with “qualified and competent board members.” A U.S. court of appeals voted 2-1 on Thursday … Read More…

CFPB Director Richard Cordray spoke before the Consumer Advisory Board on Wednesday on agency efforts to make changes in the consumer financial industry, as well as in financial products and services. The CFPB finalized its remittance rule last month, which … Read More…

The House of Representatives voted 416-6 on Wednesday to pass two bills from the Financial Services Committee, including one measure that would establish a rulemaking deadline for the SEC to implement a certain JOBS Act provision. Under H.R. 701, the … Read More…

The House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee recently concluded its review of “too big to fail” on Wednesday, finding Dodd-Frank did little to end TBTF but “enshrined it” instead. “Title II of Dodd-Frank, which created the Orderly Liquidation Authority, made government … Read More…

The North American Bangladesh Worker Safety Working Group, which is comprised of five Canadian and U.S. retail associations, reaffirmed its commitment to improving worker safety conditions in Bangladesh on Wednesday. The “Safer Factories” intiative includes short-, medium- and long-term goals … Read More…

CFTC Commissioner Scott O’Malia spoke before Energy Risk USA’s recent conference on the commission’s “unknown unknowns,” areas of the rule implementation process that are “impossible to identify, but in hindsight…are the result of the Commission’s inconsistent rules.” O’Malia said the … Read More…

The National Association of Federal Credit Unions currently has lobbyists on Capital Hill working to ensure credit unions’ tax exemption as Congress moves forward on debate and issues surrounding tax reform. Recently, the House Ways and Means Committee held a … Read More…

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) recently said that he plans to hold a vote next week on CFPB Director Richard Cordray’s nomination to the position. Reid has sought to make changes to Senate filibuster rules, though he said he … Read More…

The CFPB announced on Wednesday the availability of several Youtube videos featuring plain-language information on the agency’s new mortgage rules. The videos relate to mortgage servicing, the Truth in Lending Act’s escrow rule, loan originator compensation rule, ability-to-repay—or QM—rule, the … Read More…

CrewCash Card, a payroll and benefits platform, launched on Thursday to allow crewmen employed by participating shipping and trading firms to receive direct deposit paychecks on a MasterCard branded prepaid debit card. “MasterCard is constantly looking for new products and … Read More…