The U.K. bank's new business unit takes advantage of the massive amount of data it stores to offer a new array of products and services, including managing customers' digital identities.

Bay Banks of Virginia in Kilmarnock has increased the size of its fourth-quarter loss, after a commercial borrower pleaded guilty to creating false financial statements.

The subprime consumer lender currently rejects many of its personal loan applicants. It hopes to qualify more borrowers by offering cash to those who are willing to put their cars up as collateral.

Freedom Bank in Columbia Falls, Mont., has been released from a consent order that the FDIC and the Montana Division of Banking and Financial Institutions had implemented in December 2009.

First Sentry Bancshares in Huntington, W.Va., said it will pay $7.4 million in cash and stock to buy the $75 million-asset Rock Branch Community Bank in Nitro, W.Va.

ChoiceOne Financial Services in Sparta, Mich., has given its president, Kelly Potes, the job of chief executive, too.

A program recently started in New York helps entrepreneurs improve their business plans and cash flow before sending them to a bank. The nonprofit lender behind the program, meanwhile, hopes to boost small-business borrowers' credit scores and lower their rates.

Some of today's credit products and practices risk leaving consumers trapped in a cycle of debt.

The Urban Institute has released a report reviewing data from 118 million homeowners and 127 million renters to help understand how mortgages relate to other consumer debts.

Hometown Community Bancorp in Morton, Ill., has agreed to buy Illini Corp. in Springfield, Ill.

Mid Penn Bancorp in Millersburg, Pa., has hired Michael Peduzzi as chief financial officer.

Community Financial Corp. in Waldorf, Md., has agreement to support a director nominated by the activist investor Basswood Capital Management.

The CFPB's annual report to Congress updates the current status of proposed debt collection rules and lists four key themes that emerged from the more than 23,000 comments received after the CFPB’s 2013 debt collection Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

Royal Financial in Chicago has agreed to sell $25.8 million of distressed assets associated with its pending purchase of Park Bancorp in Chicago.

Thousands of students who were defrauded by Corinthian Colleges could receive billions in debt forgiveness from the federal government, the U.S. Department of Education announced Friday.

Hackers penetrated the computer network of a Verizon Communications subsidiary, but the company says it plugged the hole before much data was compromised.

CU Anytime will upgrade its ATM management system to a software platform provided by NCR Corporation and INETCO Software.

Sterling Bancorp in Montebello, N.Y., plans to raise $105 million in a debt sale to fuel potential acquisitions of commercial lenders.

WASHINGTON – Four Democratic senators sent a letter on Thursday to federal financial regulators asking for clear guidance on how banks can serve the marijuana industry.

Nandita Bakhshi and Ellen Alemany discuss strategy; Beth Mooney strikes a deal; a Lehman Sister recounts her experience as a woman at the top of Wall Street in its doomsday; and HSBC sets a goal to have equal gender representation in certain areas by 2020. Plus, some interesting research on equal pay for women, and good grief, Raymond Moore.