Monday, January 23, 2012

Morning roundup: Small banks charging swipe fees three times as high as big banks

Here's a look at what's news in banking and finance after the weekend:

  • Some small banks are now charging merchants three times as much on debit card swipes than their big-bank brethren, the Wall Street Journal reports. The discrepancy is a result of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law's Durbin amendment, and big banks aren't happy.
  • A former Boston Red Sox catcher has won a case against his Merrill Lynch adviser, The New York Times reports. The ballplayer claimed the adviser put his money into unsuitable investments.
  • The surge in bank stocks (Bank of America, for example, is up nearly 30 percent year-to-date) might not last, a Reuters columnist says. Many banks core earnings were down in their fourth-quarter financial reports.
  • The IMF is urging European countries to increase the bailout funds that could be used to bolster the continent's ailing financial sector, The New York Times says.
  • A number of California-based start-ups are developing programs that would help banks better evaluate borrower candidates, Bloomberg reports, using more relevant data than FICO scores.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Everyone should read the Wall Street Journal article linked here - the general public doesn't seem to recognize the negative implications of Dodd-Frank to our economy.

John said...

Anonymous 1:13 PM... of course they don't, because the liberal media doesn't want to tell them. Dodd and Frank were right in the middle of making this patient sick and now they try to play doctor!

Dems are far more focused on demonizing success than they are on fixing the real problems.