The scams involving home-based businesses included offering payment processing services, credit card terminals and merchant cash advances to small businesses.

Opus Bank (OPB) in Irvine, Calif., has launched a small-business banking division.

Philip W. Tomlinson, CEO of Total Systems Services (TSYS), will retire on July 31. He will be succeeded by M. Troy Woods, the company's president and COO.

Green Bancorp in Houston has filed to raise $100 million by going public. The company said in its filing that it plans to use $8 million of the IPO's net proceeds to partially pay for its pending $46 million acquisition of SP Bancorp in Plano, Texas.

State Bank Financial (STBZ) in Atlanta has agreed to buy Georgia-Carolina Bancshares (GECR) in Augusta, Ga. The $2.6 billion-asset State Bank will pay about $82 million, or $22.35 a share, in cash and stock.

Umpqua Holdings (UMPQ) in Portland, Ore., will close 27 branches by the end of this year as part of its integration of Sterling Financial in Spokane, Wash.

Bank of America Corp. (BAC) will offer clients with at least $20,000 in deposits and/or investments at the bank certain perks previously available only to wealthier customers.

The prepaid phone carrier, which is teaming with a mobile banking startup called Wipit, believes that its large retail footprint in low-income neighborhoods offers an opportunity to challenge check cashers and prepaid card issuers.

First it was Brazil and Greece. Now add Spain to the list of countries where Citigroup (NYSE: C) is unloading consumer banking operations.

First Community Bank in Lexington, S.C., has agreed to acquire First South Bank's deposits in Columbia and some loans for approximately $800,000.

Great Southern in Missouri completed its fifth failed-bank deal on Friday. The company stated that the deal's strategic benefits outweigh the fact that it received a smaller upfront gain from its latest purchase.

Community banks in the Old Line State have benefitted from a strong economy, but higher regulatory costs, rate pressure and competition could force many to consider selling in coming months.

Open Bank (OPBK) in Los Angeles has raised $30 million in a private offering of common stock.

A federal judge has frozen the assets of an operation that swindled Spanish-speaking consumers across the U.S. by routinely sending unordered or defective products and then making it difficult, impossible or costly for consumers to obtain relief.

A former employee of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity won a whistleblower lawsuit against the state. The case involved wrongly reporting residents to collection agencies.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's loss to an unknown Tea Party challenger sheds new light on the deep divisions in the Republican Party, which is ultimately likely to have a large impact on the debate over financial policy.

The Federal Housing Administration clamped down further on reverse mortgages, saying it will no longer insure a variant of the product featuring a fixed rate and a line of credit.

U.S. Bancorp (USB) in Minneapolis has completed its purchase of Citizens Financial Group's Charter One franchise in Chicago.

Banks can boost productivity with a number of counter-intuitive practices. For starters, they can let customers wait in line for a little while.

First National Bank of the Gulf Coast in Naples, Fla., will change its name when it becomes a state-chartered bank.