Corporations and trial lawyers have long fought over whether consumers should be forced into arbitration to resolve their complaints. Now there's a new wrinkle: It's becoming harder for aggrieved customers to even get to arbitration.

Provident Financial in Iselin initially anticipated completing its deal for Oak Ridge-based Lakeland Bancorp in the second quarter. Now as it waits for regulatory approval, Provident says the process will stretch into spring 2024.

Funding pressures moderated in recent months, but loan charge-offs climbed. With festering concerns about a vulnerable economy, the potential for elevated credits costs could loom large over the upcoming bank earnings season.

The banks' resistance to changes being recommended by the Federal Housing Finance Agency do not bode well for their future or that of the industry.

The vote by workers in a New Mexico branch is the first union victory at a megabank in decades, though unionization efforts at another Wells branch took a step back.

Lincoln Savings Bank has tapped Sean Willett, chief administrative officer at Financial Institutions, as its next leader after a six-month search.

The Cincinnati, Ohio, bank also promoted three other top executives to new roles. All of the changes will be effective in early 2024.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's annual student banking report reveals that college-endorsed financial products, including credit cards and student ID-linked deposit accounts, often impose high fees and unfavorable terms, reinforcing the CFPB's ongoing scrutiny of potential violations of federal consumer financial protection laws.

Frequent overdrafters — households that pay more than 10 overdraft fees a year — use the service as a form of credit, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said in a report.

Allegations of lending discrimination against Navy Federal Credit Union, while as yet unproven, suggest that the rationale for giving credit unions substantial advantages over banks needs to be rethought.