A new study by the Richmond Fed confirms that swipe fees have only gone down for a small fraction of merchants, contrary to congressional intent. This finding should spur the central bank to limit price-fixing to a reasonable level.

M&T Bank has agreed to pay $485,000 and change its lending policies to settle a lawsuit that accused the Buffalo, N.Y., company of racial discrimination in making mortgage loans.

A new battle is brewing between Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as the government-sponsored enterprises set out to boost their purchases of low down payment loans.

Using an expanded view of credit data allowed collection agencies and debt buyers to increase their recovered dollars by up to 9%, according to a new study.

Carolina Trust Bank in Lincolnton, N.C., has named an auto dealership executive to its board.

The most productive and successful salespeople hear some version of “No thanks, I’m good” more than anyone else. This kind of daily rejection is just confirmation that they're doing their jobs correctly.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of the Inspector General issued a report stating the department failed to hold a student loan management company accountable for correcting deficiencies in its collection system.

Pacific Mercantile Bancorp in Costa Mesa, Calif., has reached an agreement to swap about 3 million shares of common stock for all of its outstanding preferred stock and warrants.

Colony Bankcorp in Fitzgerald, Ga., has redeemed about 17% of its Troubled Asset Relief Program preferred shares for about $4.3 million.

Prudential Savings Bank in Philadelphia has hired Douglas Smith to be its chief lending officer. Smith most recently served as chief credit officer at Noah Bank in Elkins Park, Pa.

Northwest Bancorp. in Spokane has raised $20 million from a private placement of common stock. Northwest plans to use some of the proceeds to complete its acquisition of Fairfield Financial Holdings, which was announced in late June.

Riverview Bancorp in Vancouver, Wash., has reached a truce with the activist investment firm Ancora Advisors.

The National Association of Federal Credit Unions is calling for stricter regulation of marketplace lending.

A data breach-related court case involving Wyndham hotels and new Defense Department rules governing contractors provide banks some dos and don'ts in bringing vendors' security practices into line.

Suncrest Bank is hoping that its team of experienced executives, combined with organic growth and acquisitions, will help more than double its assets in the next few years.

K2 Intelligence, an adviser on compliance and cybersecurity, has hired a former FBI cryptocurrency expert and a former regulator who worked on New York's digital currency regulations.

A group of small business owners are accusing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau of plans to dismantle the payday lending industry through proposed new rules.

As marketing services agreements disappear under pressure from regulators, loan officers will have to compete based on skill and customer service to win referral business.

A Texas law that takes effect Tuesday is designed to help patients negotiate lower bills from hospital-based doctors who aren't in their health insurer's provider network.

The U.S. auto lending industry continues its multiyear boom. What follows is a look at numerous metrics that reflect the red-hot state of the market.