Banks needs to deeply understand the needs of their customers before they start rolling out ambitious high-tech plans.

A number of credit union and bank executives have been ignoring the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cyber Security, waiting for the federal government to issue more definitive guidance.

John A. Allison writes in his new book that he feared for years that predecessors of Wachovia or Bank of America would try and force BB&T to sell itself. In this excerpt, he explains how he kept the banking giants at bay. Part 5 of 5.

Law enforcement officials in the Albany, N.Y. area are warning people about a collection scam involving an operation that claims to be from the IRS.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York said Thursday that a voicemail message stating a call is from a debt collector, along with a return phone call where the voicemail message's intended recipient is disclosed to a third party, does not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

A report due next week on the Federal Housing Administration's financial health is expected to show that the agency's reserve fund has significantly improved over the past year.

The Connecticut company just recaptured its deferred-tax asset, which padded third-quarter earnings. Still, some observers believe Patriot National's improved health, and presence in affluent markets, could lure suitors.

First Niagara Financial Group Inc. climbed as much as 4.6 percent, the best performance in the KBW Bank Index, after senior managers, including Chief Executive Officer Gary Crosby, bought shares of the lender this week.

New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer's creative effort to give shareholders more power to nominate board candidates will be an uphill battle, but community banks are taking it seriously — and larger banks may ultimately have to do so, too.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week.

Pennsylvania regulators filed a lawsuit against an operation that allegedly ran an illegal online payday loan scheme. The suit names several collection agencies as defendants.

Nonbank acquisitions require a certain level of expertise, John Allison writes in his new book. In this excerpt, he discusses how BB&T views the insurance business and why he stuck with subprime auto finance when others bailed. Part 4 of 5.

John Hairston will stay in the newly combined role, while Carl Chaney plans to retire on Dec. 31. Hancock has been pressed by Wall Street in recent years to get more aggressive cutting costs after buying Whitney Bank.

An Orlando, Fla.-based operation that allegedly bilked seniors by using pre-recorded robocalls to sell supposedly free medical alert systems has agreed to shut down to settle charges brought by the Federal Trade Commission and the Florida attorney general's office.

A U.S. Treasury Department pilot program involving taking over the collection of defaulted student loan accounts could mean the work eventually will be pulled from private debt collection agencies.

Fannie Mae has entered into deals with JPMorgan Chase and other companies that transfer some of the credit-loss risk on mortgage-backed securities to investors. Not only do these deals reduce the danger that taxpayers could be forced to cover the GSEs' losses, they may help make mortgages more affordable.

Royal Financial in Chicago has agreed to buy PNA Bank in Chicago.

Kim Kardashian may be an overexposed reality star, but she's also a tech entrepreneur with a short-lived past in the payments industry. And several companies in the Bitcoin space are repeating her biggest mistake by offering a plastic payment card.

New York financial regulator Benjamin Lawsky held up the deal shortly after it was announced in January, and regulatory and legal concerns had mounted since then.

Bank industry representatives initially panned the concept of the Postal Service offering retail banking products. But as the government official behind the idea has made clear that he is interested in collaboration with the private sector, attitudes have begun to change.