Americans don't understand their credit scores, specifically the way they are calculated, and are possibly damaging their credit reports as a result, according to a new survey.

With the reduction in payday loans, prompted by a 2009 law, comes a drop in payday loan stores.

Solera National Bancorp (SLRK) lost its proxy battle at the ballot box, though the Lakewood, Colo., company still hopes it can win in the courtroom.

Financial Institutions (FISI) in Warsaw, N.Y. has agreed to buy Scott Danahy Naylon, an insurance agency in Amherst, N.Y.

The head of a California mortgage lender who perpetrated a $5.3 million mortgage fraud scheme against Ally Financial will serve more than four years in prison.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fined RealtySouth, Alabama's largest real estate firm, $500,000 for allegedly steering consumers to an affiliated title services company.

Seacoast Commerce Bank (SCCB) in San Diego has opened a new loan production office in Boise, in an effort to extend its Small Business Administration lending business to Idaho and eastern Washington.

Much has been made of how Basel III requirements have dulled banks' appetite for mortgage servicing rights, but a handful of institutions are buying within regulatory limits.

An increasing number of severely delinquent mortgages that were securitized during the boom years are sustaining losses that are greater than the loan's original principal balance.

The Arkansas company has been aggressive this year, agreeing to buy banks with a total of $3.4 billion in assets. The buying spree is partially driven by a currency lifted by a bankruptcy deal Simmons First completed last year.

United Bank in Zebulon, Ga., has agreed to acquire Monroe County Bank in Forsyth, Ga.

FirstBank in Lakewood, Colo., has opened a new branch in Denver's newly renovated Union Station building.

Consumers in the market for new banks will find the most affordable options in the Midwest and South, according to a study from GoBankingRates.

United Bank of Glastonbury, Conn., has hired three experienced former Bank of America mortgage bankers in West Springfield, Mass.

Research found the Ditech name still resonates with consumers after a five-year absence from the market, the lender says, though this incarnation won't be originating nonprime loans.

Telephone Consumer Protection Act lawsuits in April overtook Fair Credit Reporting Act legislation as the number two largest category behind Fair Debt Collection Practices Act cases.

Square has launched Square Capital, a credit program for small business, joining a growing number of companies breaking into small-business lending.

Simmons First National (SFNC) in Pine Bluff, Ark., has agreed to buy Liberty Bancshares in Springfield, Mo.

Philadelphia collected more than $45 million in back property taxes during the first four months of the year and cut the number of tax delinquent properties by an estimated 30,000, 25% down from the previous year, records show.

First Horizon National (FHN) in Memphis, Tenn., has agreed to buy 13 branches from Bank of America (BAC).