Brian Browdie

Mortgage applications fell last week as interest rates rose slightly and falling demand for refinancing offset an increase in purchase applications.

Pinnacle Bank of Lincoln, Neb., would expand its presence in the Show Me State with its agreement to buy First State Bank of Joplin, Mo.

The agency is cracking down on three mortgage relief firms that promise to help cash-strapped borrowers hold onto their homes while delivering little help and driving them deeper into debt.

The Redwood Shores, Calif., software company has introduced systems for managing governance and compliance that work together with Oracle's existing platform to enable financial firms to manage risk company-wide.

First Citizens Bank in Raleigh, N.C., is adding a service for clients in the healthcare industry.

The nation's shadow inventory, which refers to homes that are delinquent, in foreclosure or held by lenders but not currently for sale, fell to 2.3 million units in July, the most recent month for which data is available, CoreLogic, a data firm, said Tuesday.

Accenture, the global technology services and consulting company, will maintain all of the software and systems that support operations for the Chile division of BBVA, the companies said Monday.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Bluebird Alights: The Bluebird debit card Walmart rolled out Monday marks another phase in the retailing giant's aggressive push into financial services, the Journal reports. The Bluebird card doesn't have a monthly maintenance fee, annual fee or activation fee, whereas other prepaid cards carry fees of $5 or more a month, as well as a nest of other charges, notes the Journal, which adds that Bluebird arrives as checking account fees reach record highs. The Journal also reminds readers that Wal-Mart has pushed aggressively into financial services despite failed attempts to obtain a U.S. bank charter. The Post notes that Walmart officials predict the card will have appeal beyond the unbanked. Anyone wondering how Walmart and American Express, Bluebird's other backer, plan to make money on the card may have to wait. On a call Monday with reporters, the companies declined to detail the financial relationship, although both said they would profit from the card, Times reports. Bluebird also may represent a realization by Walmart that consumers aren't connecting with its MoneyCard, run by Green Dot. "This market is growing, and it's moving beyond just that chunk of people that we consider to be underbanked," David Robertson, publisher of The Nilson Report, told the Times. "It includes people who might be wanting to buy a prepaid card for other reasons, like budgeting purposes." Green Dot's stock declined roughly 20% on Monday, though Walmart executives said the retailer would continue to offer Green Dot's MoneyCard. Though Bluebird represents "a direct challenge" to U.S. banks, according to the FT, some bankers may not regret losing Walmart customers to Bluebird, as many have weak credit scores and average household incomes from $30,000 to $60,000 a year, according to the report. JPMorgan Chase said this year that four out of five customers who hold assets of less than $5,000 with it were unprofitable, the FT notes. Still, there are 10 million unbanked households in the U.S., according to the FDIC, the FT's "Lex" column reminds readers. Prepaid debit cards also have come under scrutiny from regulators, who are said to be tightening controls on them, the article recounts.

RSA, the security division of storage and cloud computing company EMC, is offering technology that segments and stores data in multiple places to safeguard passwords and other secrets from cyber criminals.

The Federal Reserve Board has terminated enforcement actions against TCSB Bancorp in Traverse City, Mich., and Northeast Securities Corporation in Minneapolis.

Storage and cloud computing company EMC has teamed up with the nonprofit National Cyber Security Alliance to offer consumers a tool for assessing their exposure to digital danger.

The Bedminster, N.J., bank holding company said Thursday that Douglas Kennedy will take over as chief executive on Oct. 9.

First Horizon National in Memphis is asking some employees if they would like to leave voluntarily.

Bank of the Ozarks of Little Rock, Ark., is buying Genala Banc, the holding company of The Citizens Bank of Geneva, Ala., for $27.3 million.

Federal regulators are targeting another financial firm in connection with its mortgage activities before the housing crisis.

The $11.5 billion-asset unit of Umpqua Holdings (UMPQ) said Thursday it would open a flagship store in San Francisco's financial district.

Bank of Virginia in Midlothian, Va., is moving to shore up its stock price.

Loans backed by apartment buildings rose by roughly $40 billion last year.

C1 Bank of Lakewood Ranch, Fla., may be requiring U.S. Century Bank in Doral, Fla., to unload some troubled loans prior to C1's pending purchase of the struggling lender.

First Niagara Financial Group (FNFG) in Buffalo is cutting about 180 jobs throughout its four-state region, the bank confirmed Thursday.