The banking industry's rate of expansion hit a seasonal wall in January, leading to the weakest reading for the Index of Banking Activity since its inception in 2012. While January has consistently yielded some of the softest readings in the IBA, a relatively mild winter in the Northeast (a stark contrast to the previous two winters) puts the loss of momentum in a different light from those in recent years. Index components that track loan applications and loan approvals retreated below 50 in January on both the consumer and commercial sides of the business, marking the first time that those indicators simultaneously signaled a contraction in business activity. Most of the components that monitor trends in credit quality have remained positive, although respondents did indicate that delinquency trends in consumer lending had turned somewhat negative in January. Survey respondents also continued to report generally favorable trends in the pricing environment for new loans. Trends in other areas of business tracked by the IBA remained largely intact: The components that monitor the generation of new transaction accounts, the overall level of commercial and consumer loans outstanding, and local business and real estate conditions in the markets where respondents do business all remained above 50, pointing to ongoing improvements in each of those banking-activity metrics.

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Buying and selling branches is routine for a lot of banks, but it's big news at First National Bank of Dwight in Illinois.

The Houston-based institution plans to build profit into the repayment agreement for a loan, with profit replacing interest, under the model of other Muslim-based lenders.

The nation's largest marketplace lender announced changes Friday to its partnership with Utah-based WebBank. The revisions are designed to preserve Lending Club's ability to ignore state interest rate caps.

Pacific Mercantile Bank in Costa Mesa, Calif., announced four executive promotions Friday.

Texas has had a fair share of M&A since the financial crisis, but deal volume has declined since oil prices began to plummet in late 2014. Uncertainty over sellers' exposure and depressed stock prices for aspiring buyers are largely to blame.

The Federal Trade Commission, as a result of a federal court ruling, may attempt to collect up to $3.2 million from marketers who lied about their finances to the FTC when they agreed to settle deceptive advertising charges in 2014.

Capital One Financial in McLean, Va., has added Amazon's former chief information security officer to its board of directors.

The bank's approval last year to buy OneWest Bank included a condition to submit an updated Community Reinvestment Act plan, but the CRA program now being presented by CIT is far from adequate.

PRA Group's fourth-quarter financial results reported Thursday showed drops in both revenue and income and mixed news for cash collections.

The former chief executive of a Georgia community bank that participated in the Troubled Asset Relief Program was sentenced to prison and fined $3.9 million for hiding the bank's past-due loans and committing other fraud.

Regulators’ focus on having banks and credit unions offer payday loan alternatives to underserved consumers overlooks the success of Web-based companies in filling credit gaps.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and our social media platforms.

Understanding how consumers pay their debts over time is expected to widen access to credit for consumers recovering from financial problems or who were hard to score before. Just how many it will benefit is an open debate.

After the financial crisis led to a long nationwide drought in the creation of new banks, the second de novo bank application in less than a year has been submitted in California.

Delinquencies are rising among the sector's less creditworthy borrowers, which is contributing to smaller returns for investors. This sets up the first major test for an industry that blossomed during a period of unusually low defaults.

The Independent Community Bankers of Minnesota said Jim Amundson will be its next president and chief executive.

The Sixth Circuit recently upheld an Ohio federal court's decision to throw out a Telephone Consumer Protection Act suit brought by two hospital patients.

Two big Canadian banks reported quarterly results on Thursday.

Preparing for the inevitable future credit crisis by setting aside more loss reserves is a step toward avoiding government bailouts.