Five Star Credit Union in Dothan, Ala., has agreed to buy Farmers State Bank in Lumpkin, Ga.

Pay.gov, the federal government's web portal for collecting payments to federal agencies, is now offering PayPal and Dwolla as payment options.

Orrstown Bank in Pennsylvania has introduced two-way text messaging between customers and its service agents. It's the latest effort in the banking industry to make communication easier for mobile-first customers.

Several Korean-American banks are entering markets and businesses designed to target mainstream clients and other ethnic groups. Such moves are viewed as a way to improve the bottom line as revenue growth proves daunting.

Consumers Union launched a campaign Wednesday asking the largest telephone companies to offer customers free tools to block robocalls.

Decisions about when and how to implement EMV technology in credit and debit cards are difficult. Many banks have decided to slowly phase it in, despite the fact the delay will open them up to greater potential liability.

Foreclosures and delinquencies may seem like problems from the past, but servicers are still struggling with a massive backlog of distressed loans and a return to normalcy is at least two years away, if not longer.

New data reveals that mortgage delinquency rates have declined to 3.29% at the end of Q4 2014 among all age groups. This shift marks a 14% drop year-over-year from 3.84% in Q4 2013.

Encouraging the financial industry to explore faster payments is all well and good. Effectively directing it to do so, however, is beyond the Fed's authority.

First National Bank of Santa Fe in New Mexico has a new leader.

Auction.com, an online real estate marketplace, has named Gordon Smith its general manager of commercial real estate.

Riverview Financial in Halifax, Pa., has received state regulators' approval to buy Citizens National Bank of Meyersdale in Pennsylvania for $8 million in cash and stock.

First Defiance Financial, in Ohio, has revised upward its fourth-quarter earnings after lowering its provision for fourth-quarter income taxes.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who forced Wall Street's biggest banks to pay billions in fines for their roles in the subprime mortgage crisis, is pressing for action against executives at those firms, even as he prepares to leave his post.

MasterCard has launched a service designed to bolster wallet share of corporate clients with interests in Japan.

Americans increased their borrowing in the final three months of 2014 and, in a troubling sign, are wrestling more with student and auto loans, according to a study released Tuesday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Biddeford Savings Bank and Mechanics Savings Bank will form a holding company to help each cut costs and make bigger loans. But the thrifts are hoping to keep their own charters, and independence, over the long term.

HSBC has spent billions of dollars in compliance and legal costs, but the damaging scandals keep coming. Renewed attention on the problems at its Swiss private bank could fuel the debate about whether banks this size are too big to manage.

Metro Bancorp, a company under fire from activist investors, has adopted a shareholder rights agreement that will provide common stock shareholders a dividend of one right per share.

ConServe, a Fairport, N.Y.-based accounts receivable management company, has promoted several employees to managerial positions and hired new personnel.