Synthetic identity theft is a fast-emerging vector of financial fraud, reaching $8 billion and accounting for the majority of fraud on payment cards, according to expert estimates. Projected to double between 2014 and 2018, this form of fraud is "difficult to spot and it’s rapidly growing — and that’s not a coincidence," says Rob McKenna, former attorney general of Washington state, on the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast. (ABA Banking Journal)

According to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics last week, wages in the U.S. fell over the past year despite an ongoing economic boom. (The Hill)

Demand for P2P payments does not seem to be slowing anytime soon. A new study by research firm Aite and Early Warning, owner of the bank-based P2P firm Zelle, found that P2P payments will triple by 2020. This increase represents an opportunity area for both banks and fraudsters, however. (Bank Innovation)

According to recent reports, the FBI is warning banks that cybercriminals are preparing to carry out a highly choreographed, global fraud scheme known as an "ATM cash-out," in which crooks hack a bank or payment card processor and use cloned cards at cash machines around the world to fraudulently withdraw cash. (Krebs on Security)

When asked which provision of the S. 2155 regulatory reform bill would be most meaningful to them, community bankers were most likely to rank the policy change to make most reciprocal deposits non-brokered. On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, two community bankers explain how the new law’s provisions put their banks in a more competitive position. (ABA Banking Journal)

Bots are marching steadily into the corporate accounting department as professionals feel more comfortable handing tasks to a machine. As automation technologies take some of the burden of monotonous activities away from human employees, concerns arise about jobs, compliance, trust and other industry-unknowns. (PYMNTS.com)

As Congress prepares to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the farm bill, ABA joined a broad coalition of financial, agricultural and other trade associations in a letter to congressional leaders urging them to finalize the bill ahead of the current farm bill’s expiration on Sept. 30. (ABA Banking Journal)

As federal regulators continue their ongoing effort to update the Community Reinvestment Act regulations, an op-ed penned by ABA President and CEO Rob Nichols in The Hill advocates for commonsense reforms that would better align the decades-old statute with the modern banking landscape. (ABA Banking Journal)

ABA welcomes the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s proposal to set the swap dealer de minimis threshold at $8 billion on a permanent basis while noting that it could be set even higher or, preferably, replaced with a risk-based threshold instead of a fixed aggregate gross notional amount of swaps. (ABA Banking Journal)

Congress should act to eliminate the "outdated and abusive tax loophole" for large credit unions, wrote Florida Bankers Association President and CEO Alex Sanchez in a Wall Street Journal op-ed this week. (ABA Banking Journal)