Victoria Finkle

James Gutierrez, founder of micro-lender Progreso Financiero, is leaving the company to start a new firm that will offer cloud-based payments for the unbanked, he told American Banker.

Discover Financial Services' Pulse debit network posted solid gains in the first quarter, but executives say a new rule banning network exclusivity could prove a hurdle going forward.

The Treasury Department has hired Melissa Koide, vice president of policy for the non-profit Center for Financial Services Innovation, which focuses on providing expanding the availability of financial services.

Over the last week Bank of America angered the groupies of Francesca Lia Block, a prolific young-adult author who wants to modify the loan on her L.A. home — and took more heat for the guy it killed (on paper).

Discover Financial Services is partnering with the operator of Puerto Rico's ATM and debit network, as part of its ongoing efforts to increase acceptance abroad by teaming up with local networks.

American Express Co. is partnering with Office Depot Inc. to offer its prepaid cards at some office supply stores across the country.

Like U.S. Bancorp, Regions Financial Inc., BB&T Corp. and others, Citizens Republic has introduced a prepaid card and is expanding its line of alternative financial products used by underbanked consumers.

Critics say branches are expensive and losing customers, but bankers this week rallied in defense of their brick-and-mortar locations, even as they acknowledged that branches are losing some ground to mobile and online banking.

The next generation of consumers may forgo outdated tools like a computer mouse — a move that could have critical implications for bankers.

The majority of U.S. Bancorp customers have found ways to avoid paying monthly fees, after the bank phased out its "free" checking accounts, an executive told American Banker.

Speaking at the annual Best Practices in Retail Financial Services Symposium, U.S. Bank CEO Richard Davis and Citizens Republic CEO Cathleen Nash urged retail bankers to consider a proactive approach to new industry regulations.

SunTrust Banks Inc. plans to unveil remote-deposit capture technology by this fall, as part of its efforts to upgrade the systems its checking customers use, an executive told American Banker on Monday.

TCF Financial CEO William Cooper had some surprising praise this week for the much-contested CFPB. But he pulled few other punches, telling retail bankers that Bank of America "screwed the pooch" with its failed debit-card fee.

Bank customers are making fewer regular visits to their local branches, which aren't getting cheaper for banks to maintain — but bankers are sharply divided on how to fix their branch problems.

Banks including Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and Capital One are cashing in on the rebound in car sales, as their auto lending arms search for ways to boost still-sluggish consumer loans.

Discover Financial Services has signed a deal with the National Payments Corporation of India, in the credit card company's latest effort to increase card acceptance abroad by teaming up with local networks.

Wells Fargo & Co. has struck a deal to expand its remittance network with former Western Union Co. partner Banco Azteca, a Mexico City-based financial services company owned by Grupo Elektra.

Internet scams were the top consumer fraud complaint in 2011, according to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

Protestors rallied outside the San Francisco home of John Stumpf, armed with cardboard cutouts of Wells Fargo's chief executive.

Roughly half of the customers leaving a large bank in the past year ended up moving their money to another large bank, according to study released Monday by J.D. Power and Associates. That's despite Bank Transfer Day and other popular movements urging people to switch to smaller institutions.