Docking Bancshares in Arkansas City, Kan., has agreed to buy RelianzBank in Wichita, Kan.

American Banker’s Index of Banking Activity hit a three-year low in January as falling oil prices and harsh winter weather tamped down borrowing.

A complaint filed in district court by the Federal Trade Commission aims to stop an operation that has targeted consumers with outstanding payday loans, claiming they could help resolve those debts but then providing little or none of the financial relief promised.

Huntington had admired the finance firm for decades, but it was the Ohio company's Midwestern ties that helped it snag the unit from other suitors.

A more efficient, customer-friendly process for small-dollar commercial loan requests is a matter of competitive necessity for most community banks.

A North Carolina newspaper published an editorial this week stating that state law, the Affordable Care Act and a series of articles published in 2012 has led nonprofit hospitals in North Carolina to become less aggressive in pursuing former patients who can’t pay their bills.

Busting up JPMorgan Chase would result in a collection of financial services companies with higher back-office costs, more divided capital and less power to be a world leader, the company's CFO said Tuesday.

BofI Holding in San Diego is planning a new $50 million offering after raising the same amount earlier this year.

The finance and technology industries should take some of the energy they've poured into mobile payments and put it toward making small-dollar loans more affordable.

Huntington Bancshares in Columbus, Ohio, has agreed to buy Macquarie Equipment Finance in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

Banks are transforming branches, rolling out new products and experimenting with alternative data, in an effort to bring more people into the financial mainstream. Such initiatives might have been a footnote in the past, but they have grown into a serious business strategy lately.

A sudden funding crisis forced John Bryant to shake up Operation Hope and develop a new model that relies heavily on banks to promote financial literacy. If it succeeds, Bryant says, it will drive more customers to banks and credit unions — and maybe even put payday lenders out of business.

The unfortunate reality is that those who most need credit counseling help are also the hardest to reach. In a Q&A, the agency's financial literacy honcho, Gail Hillebrand, talks about efforts to empower the vast swath of American who aren't terribly savvy.

Financial illiteracy is costing cities billions in revenue. Would more money-management programs in schools — funded by the sale of government bonds — change that?

The upstarts are shaking up the world of small-business financing, but with fraud concerns mounting, some say it's only a matter of time before they come under the scrutiny of state and federal regulators.

Banks want to make loans to people with scant credit histories, but the challenge is figuring out how to do so safely. One possible solution is to look at alternative data. Eager to book more loan business, more and more banks are considering such factors as rent payments, purchasing patterns, even an applicant's spelling to help predict creditworthiness.

Creating checking accounts, mortgages and consumer loans with features that suit folks with lower incomes is paying off in unexpected ways for some banks.

Could getting people to save more money be as easy as changing around the office furniture? Based on Emily Garbinsky's research, the answer is yes.

It's easy for banks to spin their wheels on local reinvestment, financial education and other efforts to help underserved communities. To make outreach programs successful, bank executives need to carefully vet nonprofit and other partners, listen to their employees on the front lines and reflect on their own reasons for getting into banking.

Daunted by the challenge of how your bank can help underserved members of the community? Here are some simple tips and bits of wisdom from bankers, nonprofit leaders and local government officials.