The president and chief banking officer at Heritage Oaks Bancorp in Paso Robles, Calif., plans to leave the company next month.

HomeTrust Bancshares in Asheville, N.C., will name a the former North Carolina market president for Fifth Third Bancorp to its board, along with two other professionals.

Bankers are warming up to a program that aims to improve the credit profile of entrepreneurs while giving banks a new way to compete with online lenders.

Those criticizing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's governing structure object to the idea of a regulatory agency successfully protecting consumers and the public interest.

With energy stocks enjoying the biggest rebound since the beginning of the oil rout, short sellers have shifted their sights to regional banks that do business with the industry.

Hancock Holding is warning of more pain in its energy portfolio as low prices continue to hamper oil and gas firms’ ability to repay their loans.

As online business lenders grow in number, size and prominence, a new trade group is being launched to represent their interests in Washington.

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.