No one can agree on what the Fed will do with interest rates. In the meantime, the banking industry's more-conservative players are devoting more resources toward hoarding low-cost deposits and purging shorter-term borrowings.

GOP lawmakers on Wednesday harshly criticized the Federal Housing Administration's recent move to lower insurance premiums, saying it violates the law and will be used to entice borrowers into predatory loans.

United Community Banks in Blairsville, Ga., has solidified Lynn Harton's hold as the eventual successor to Chief Executive Jimmy Tallent.

The central bank is floating the concept of using the Internet to facilitate the direct clearing of transactions between financial institutions, which would likely diminish its own role in the U.S. payment system.

Metro Bancorp, which has been fielding calls to sell itself for nearly a year, disclosed that CEO Gary Nalbandian will take a medical leave to undergo bypass surgery. Metro's executive team will be tasked with an ongoing effort to improve performance and remain independent.

An estimated 77 million Americans have a debt in collections, or about 35% of consumers with credit files or data reported to a major credit bureau, according to a joint study, which noted that the positive impact of collections is expected to increase.

U.S. Bancorp in Minneapolis has appointed Amy Hurd as head of its in-store and on-site banking division.

WASHINGTON — In expansive comments, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray provided new details Tuesday about proposals due soon from the agency while offering insights into an internal battle over easing a key mortgage rule. He only briefly touched on debt collection rules.

Many colleges partner with banks to offer their students special accounts through exclusive bank-school marketing arrangements. Unfortunately, the benefits afforded to students through these accounts are grossly overstated, while the potential harm the arrangements cause can be significant.

A sweepstakes operator is permanently banned from direct mail marketing and is liable for a $9.5 million judgment under a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, which charged her with violating a previous court order by running a sweepstakes scam.

Websites are the old dog compared with mobile, but www.yourbank.com still has some life left in it in some eyes. Here is a sampling of Web features lauded in a recent survey of 16 banks' sites.

Many colleges partner with banks to offer students special accounts. Unfortunately, the benefits of these accounts are grossly overstated and can even cause harm.

Big banks and institutional investors picked up the pace of loan approvals for small businesses in January, while small banks and alternative lenders continued to see their approval rates decline, according to a monthly lending index.

Zions Bancorp will revise its fourth-quarter earnings downward to reflect recent settlement discussions tied to a "private litigation matter."

From regulatory settlements to data breaches, bankers need to handle negative press with finesse and care. Here are several ways executives can effectively communicate with stakeholders and restore investor and customer confidence.

The Senate Banking Committee's first look at regulatory relief for small institutions provided key insights into how the panel is likely to tackle the topic legislatively this year, suggesting it could be a long and contentious debate.

The creation of a new cybersecurity agency is the latest move by the Obama administration to combat the increasing threat of cyberattacks.

More than 100,000 potential plaintiffs can pursue class-action litigation accusing Leucadia National Corp. and a law firm of illegally winning default judgments in debt collection cases, a federal appeals court in New York ruled Tuesday.

Hackers in several financial services industry data breaches targeted customer-contact information that is often thought of as less sensitive. But crooks can use that data and other bits of stolen info to do great harm.

Speakers at the American Bankers Association's Conference for Community Bankers made it clear that smaller banks must find ways to embrace new and disruptive ways of doing business to compete the bigger institutions and nonbanks.