The head of a small bank in Massachusetts has negotiated a $1.3 million change-in-control payment when his bank gets sold even though he will remain with the new company. Investors in the seller complain that's unfair, but others say it can be a mutually beneficial incentive for M&A dealmakers.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has charged a Mississippi company with refusing to disclose check-cashing fees to consumers, deceptively pressuring borrowers into taking out multiple payday loans and keeping overpayments.

Truxton Trust's approach is just one strategy banks are using attract more wealthy clients. But whether they are exploring out-of-market opportunities, staying local or employing robo-advisers, banks all have the same goals: to generate more fee income at a time when margins from lending continue to shrink.

The CFPB filed a lawsuit Wednesday charging a check casher and payday lending company of tricking and trapping customers at its 43 stores in Mississippi and at locations in Louisiana and Alabama.

Say what you will about these companies' longevity, were it not for the likes of Lending Club you wouldn't see banks like Wells Fargo introducing expedited loan products.

Can't anybody get along … for even five minutes? JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon called community banking leader Cam Fine a "jerk" on cable television. Fine responded by blasting megabanks for their role in the financial crisis.

Seacoast Banking in Florida is facing pressure from CapGen, its biggest investor, to generate better returns or sell to a larger institution.

Payday lenders on Wednesday pushed back against Google's plan to ban payday loan advertisements, arguing it was discriminatory and "a form of censorship."

Citigroup is testing Bluetooth beacon technology in a pilot that gives customers cardless access to branch ATMs after business hours, among other services.

HomeStreet in Seattle has agreed to buy most of the assets and deposits of Bank of Oswego, including the Lake Oswego, Ore., bank's branches.

First Connecticut Bancorp in Farmington has committed to making $5 million in small-business loans over the next year.

Debt-buying giant Encore Capital Group Inc. reported first quarter earnings of $25.7 million.

Navient has been recognized as a 2020 Women on Boards Winning "W" Company for the second consecutive year. The national award is presented to companies with at least 20% women on their board of directors.

Google said Wednesday it will ban ads for payday loans to protect its customers from what it considers deceptive and harmful financial products. The ban goes into effect on July 13.

Defunct online lender Integrity Advance has filed a lawsuit accusing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau of launching an enforcement action against the company without the legal authority to do so.

Sallie Krawcheck unveiled Ellevest, a digital investment platform for women and the latest of her female-oriented ventures, on Wednesday.

Growth in consumer-facing businesses propelled the Index of Banking Activity to a solid 57.1 reading in April. However, a sharp loss of momentum on indicators that track commercial lending yielded one of the sharpest divergences to date between the commercial and consumer sides of the business.

Among the activities tracked by the IBA's individual components, only deposit pricing came in below 50 for the month. But most components saw their scores decline from March, and the components that track commercial loan applications and approvals, both of which were very strong in March, declined by significant margins and hovered at levels just above the break-even mark in April. (Scores above 50 are indicative of expansion within a business line, while those below 50 indicate contraction.)

On a regional level, survey respondents in the Northeast reported increased pressure on new consumer- and commercial-loan pricing. Bankers in the energy-sensitive West were the most likely to report weakness in commercial lending, both in terms of applications and approvals.

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U.S. banks are under pressure to do more with their data to understand their customers' needs and make the best offer. But the rub is that global privacy rules are getting tougher, and consumers are starting to want to own their data.

CBI Bank & Trust in Muscatine, Iowa, said Tuesday that it has agreed to buy a branch in Davenport, Iowa, from MidWestOne Bank in Iowa City.

If alternative small-business lenders don't get engaged in the regulatory dialogue, they risk letting a few bad apples determine their fate.