Freddie Mac has revised downward its economic forecast for the remainder of 2016 following a tepid first quarter, but still remains upbeat about the housing market.

Lance Osborne is vying for two board seats at First Niles Financial in Ohio, but he isn’t pushing the thrift to sell itself. Rather, he wants management to pull money out of securities to make more loans.

The expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act is reducing medical debt in collections for some low-income consumers, according to a study from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).

Over the past year, threats of steep downgrades have chilled secondary investor demand for federally guaranteed student loans, but two recent securitizations suggest that the market is beginning to thaw.

The Department of Education wants to make student loan payments easier through the launch of a single Web portal for federal student loan borrowers.

CIT Group named John C. Erickson president of its consumer bank and head of operations in California. Erickson, 54, will be based in Pasadena, California, and report to Chief Executive Officer Ellen Alemany.

A decline in expenses and a modest rise in lending income boosted first-quarter profit at Popular in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Recent prosecutions against lenders accused of usury violations will test the government's use of a law more commonly known in organized crime cases.

Simmons First National in Pine Bluff, Ark., plans to close 10 banks across four states by the end of the second quarter: three branches in Arkansas, four in the Missouri and Kansas region and three in Tennessee.

Senate appropriators approved $13 million in new funding to update the Federal Housing Administration's "outdated and unautomated" information technology systems, but rejected President Obama's proposed way of paying for it.

Community banks are grappling with a quickly changing operating environment, but they might have some practical advantages over large banks in building partnerships with fintech firms, and those relationships could give them the competitive edge they seek.

Bankers blamed regulators' new methodologies for rating certain energy loans – and a new two-stage shared national credit review process – for an increase in downgrades and loan-loss provisions. Regulators reportedly are reacting to an increase in second liens tied to exploration and production companies.

The biggest investor in Middleburg Financial plans to withhold support for the company's director nominees.

SAN ANTONIO — Security Service Federal Credit Union's member contact center was named one of the top 100 medium-sized call centers throughout North America for 2016, according to BenchmarkPortal.

Wells Fargo plans to donate more than $665 million in philanthropic giving to meet new corporate social responsibility goals it has set.

Delaware Bancshares in New York thought it was set to grow and diversify after buying six Bank of America branches. Instead, the deal led to the company selling itself.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected on May 5 to release a proposal that would allow consumers to ban together in class action lawsuits even if there is an arbitration agreement.

The Coalition to Improve Credit Education, a group that will focus on policy issues involving helping consumers understand how they can improve their credit reports and scores, launched this week with the support of more than 20 community development, financial literacy and minority leadership organizations.

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South State in Columbia, S.C., is planning to close 11 branches over the rest of this year.