While millennials now constitute the largest age cohort in America at 80 million strong, and the most ethnically and racially diverse one, they’re not quite the digital native, online-only tech-obsessives that some make them out to be. Consider: Despite their professed interest in branchless banks, a mere 4 percent of millennials actually use an online-only bank. And while a mere 48 percent of millennials say they write checks, only a slightly smaller percentage—46 percent—use online banking to pay bills.(ABA Banking Journal)

At a recent banking conference, fintech was the favored topic of the day, as banks look to partner with, and even acquire, some of the leading edge technology companies that are providing financial services. While attendees addressed some of the great ideas about using Fintech to add fee services like wealth management and financial planning, speed up the lending process and expand mobile offerings, it was not forgotten that as regulators continue to focus more on Fintech, the industry is likely to change. (The Street)

Technically speaking, America’s economic recovery from the Great Recession is in its seventh year, making it one of the longest expansions on record. But for many, that progress still feels painfully remote. The Federal Reserve surveyed more than 5,000 people to determine whether their personal situations were improving along with the economy. One telling statistic: About 46 percent of Americans said they did not have enough money to cover a $400 emergency expense. (Washington Post)

For millions of merchants that haven’t yet met the credit-card industry’s deadline for accepting more secure plastic, the bill is coming due. As of last October, retailers who didn’t make the transition to chip cards are on the hook for counterfeit transactions that used to be covered by card-issuing banks. The costs of the fraud, known in the industry as chargebacks, are starting to stack up. (Wall Street Journal)

Each year, millions of dollars are lost to a type of fraud that’s particularly difficult to detect and stop, and it’s all based on a criminal’s ability to exploit a basic human characteristic: the tendency to trust. It’s a practice called "social engineering," in which a fraudster successfully manipulates a victim into taking specific actions like sending wire transfers or giving over confidential information while posing as a trustworthy source. (ABA Banking Journal)

A few years ago, a group of seemingly modest startups began offering consumers limited online lending or retail-payment services. Called fintechs, they operated in the margins and didn’t pose an obvious threat to established financial-services companies. But today, fintechs are rapidly entering the mainstream. (Strategy + Business)

A report from analysts at Citigroup predicts that there will be approximately 800,000 fewer bank jobs in the U.S. by 2025, while the decline in Europe will be slightly steeper. There will also be fewer local bank branches. That would be a continuation of steady declines in the financial services sector since employment peaked in 2006 and the financial crisis hit in 2007-2008. (NPR Marketplace)

In testimony before the Senate Agriculture Committee on behalf of ABA earlier this month, Leonard Wolfe, president and CEO of United Bank and Trust, raised concerns about the size, complexity and tax advantage of the Farm Credit System and called for closer congressional oversight of the government sponsored enterprise — a key component of ABA’s Agenda for America’s Hometown Banks. (ABA Banking Journal)

Several bank and credit union trade associations joined together this week to urge Congress to require higher standards of protection for consumer data.In digital and print ads hitting Capitol Hill, the groups call on lawmakers to pass the Data Security Act of 2015, bipartisan legislation that would require all entities handling sensitive personal and financial data – including retailers -- to protect that data. (ABA Banking Journal)

ABA urged members of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee to support legislation that would set forth an appropriate level of oversight of participation in the Small Business Administration’s popular 7(a) program. In a letter supporting the Small Business Lending Oversight Act, ABA noted the significant growth in the use of the 7(a) program in recent years and said such growth can bring challenges "if strong oversight is not incorporated into the program to ensure that lenders, borrowers and SBA have strong systems in place." (ABA Banking Journal)

Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on behalf of ABA, Citigroup’s Charles Blauner called on Congress to enhance the government’s ability to combat cyber threats posed by botnets used to distribute malware, ransomware or distributed denial of service attacks. Blauner, Citi’s global head of information security, highlighted the ongoing collaborative efforts of banks, government entities and federal law enforcement in disrupting a number of recent large-scale cyber attacks, but stressed the need for additional action at the legislative and executive level. (ABA Banking Journal)