Facebook's payments revenue is growing dramatically each year — and its digital currency could soon threaten banks as it moves into more traditional channels.

Analysts and former regulators debate whether last year's decline in new regulatory orders means things are improving for the banking industry, or if regulators are simply running out of sick banks to flag.

The credit card industry is inching closer to settling yet another challenge to its controversial interchange system, as MasterCard Inc. on Thursday reported setting aside $495 million tied to pending litigation.

Facebook's payments revenue is growing dramatically each year — and its digital currency could soon threaten banks as it moves into more traditional channels.

Fresh off new funding from Morningstar and TD Fund, personal financial management startup HelloWallet is targeting corporations and plan sponsors with PFM tools that can be used by employees, an emerging use case that demonstrates the maturation of the PFM model.

Mortgage search tool shut down due to poor performance.

Facebook generated about $557 million in revenue from its payments business last year, according to its S-1 filing.

Buoyed by higher revenue from processing and services, Fiserv reported fourth-quarter net income of $143 million.

Cardtronics announced Thursday that Valero is making the automated teller machine operator its exclusive service provider at Valero convenience stores.

The credit card industry is inching closer to settling yet another challenge to its controversial interchange system, as MasterCard Inc. on Thursday reported setting aside $495 million tied to pending litigation.

Ally Financial is "on par" with any top-tier financial company — as long as analysts ignore the massive mortgage problems that made the lender lose $250 million in the fourth quarter, CEO Michael Carpenter says.

TCF Financial Corp. in Wayzata, Minn., will soon offer its customers two options for paying overdraft fees on checking accounts.

Analysts and former regulators debate whether last year's decline in new regulatory orders means things are improving for the banking industry, or if regulators are simply running out of sick banks to flag.

Despite reporting vastly improved credit quality, Independent Bank Corp. in Ionia, Mich., said Thursday that its losses in the fourth quarter doubled from the same period in 2010, to $9.8 million.

Provident Financial Holdings Inc. in Riverside, Calif., has hired 40 people from MetLife Inc. to run three new retail mortgage loan production offices in Northern California.

Porter Bancorp Inc. in Louisville, Ky. reported a bigger than expected loss for the fourth quarter and warned investors that the ultimate loss for the quarter could be even larger.

Fueled by solid loan growth and sharply lower funding costs, CNB Financial Corp. in Clearfield, Pa., said Thursday that net income in the fourth quarter climbed 32% from the same period in 2010, to $3.9 million.

Regulators say coordination is a high priority, but under Dodd-Frank institutions of varying sizes and charters will face different regimes.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said the administration will release new details on a plan for GSE reform in the coming months, but said he doesn't expect legislation to advance this year.

Bernanke pushed back against House Republican criticisms that the Fed had no business issuing an unsolicited white paper detailing ways to potentially fix the housing market.

The measure would also ban bonuses to executives at Fannie and Freddie, while requiring firms that sell information they gather on Capitol Hill to hedge funds to register as lobbyists.

The Senate approved an amendment to stop Fannie and Freddie from paying bonuses and a separate measure that would require members of Congress to disclose the terms of their mortgages.

Nearly one year after the Treasury Department outlined a broad strategy for housing finance reform, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said Thursday the administration will finally outline more specific plans in the next few months.

The Small Business Lending Fund is projected to generate an $80 million profit, rather than the $1.3 billion cost initially estimated, according to a Treasury Department report.

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke on Thursday issued yet another a stark warning to lawmakers: fix the rising deficit before it puts the economy at grave risk.

Oft-shunned in the M&A world, unlisted shares can lead to a bigger payoff for sellers and offer other advantages, explains investment banker Curtis Carpenter.

BankAtlantic Bancorp Chairman Alan Levan says his company would likely be "out of business" within two years if certain investors succeed in blocking the sale of BankAtlantic's thrift to BB&T Corp.

In what would be its first bank acquisition in seven years, Center Bancorp Inc. in Union, N.J., announced Thursday that it is buying the private-equity backed Saddle River Valley Bank in an all-cash deal.

MasterCard does not explicitly require the use of a PIN with chip cards in the U.S., but its sliding scale of liability leaves little other choice.