Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) in Cincinnati was ordered this week to pay First South Bank in Spartanburg, S.C., $2.8 million in damages for a real estate deal gone sour.

In a victory for small retailers, a federal court in New York has ruled that merchants in the state may add swipe-fee surcharges on purchases made by credit card instead of cash.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's $1.4 million fine against a large third-party processor for debt relief companies proved that firms can no longer hide in the intricate debt collection stream.

Birds, hot tubs, carousels and more. These are among the images that Beneficial Mutual in Philadelphia used in creative ads to promote financial education and attract customers.

Federal Reserve Board Gov. Jerome Powell said Thursday the agency is planning to launch a new supervision program for community banks next year.

WSFS Financial in Wilmington, Del., holds the picture contest to engage customers and employees while highlighting improvements to its mobile banking.

Dorothy Savarese knows as well as any community banker the frustrations from mounting regulation. Empirical studies can illuminate compliance burdens — and their broader consequences — for policymakers, the Massachusetts thrift executive says.

We should instead preserve the right of consumers to choose the products and features that best provide for their family’s daily financial needs, not force them into limited and costly alternatives.

Fox Chase Bancorp in Hatboro, Pa., has won permission to ditch its federal charter.

For the first time in the history of a survey conducted by the American Bankers Association, mobile banking outranked telephones and snail mail in popularity.

The chief operating officer of CCFNB Bancorp in Bloomsburg, Pa., plans to retire.

Big banks once again widened their lead in deposits, according to the FDIC's yearly survey. Community banks lost ground nationwide, but they held their own in small cities and rural areas. Plus, small banks slowed deposit-gathering because they're already too liquid.

The price of Bitcoins listed on the Bitstamp Ltd. exchange plunged as much as 33 percent after charges were unsealed for the operator of an online marketplace for drugs and other illicit goods.

WSFS Financial (WSFS) recently launched its fifth annual pet photo contest. Customers and others submit snapshots of their furry friends, like this one last year from Courtney Heal in Newark, Del., of Bruno, an 8-month-old Great Dane, and his playmate, 22-month old Braedon.

The monitor of the national mortgage settlement plans to force the five largest servicers to fix billing and communications problems that have plagued homeowners and been the subject of tens of thousands of complaints.

Southwest Bancorp is merging its banks in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas into one national charter under the new name Bank SNB.

Some areas of the country are enjoying hot bank-deal markets while others are stone cold-including some over-banked ones. Robert Barba, American Banker's Chicago-based M&A reporter, explains what's behind the numbers.

Franklin Synergy Bank in Franklin, Tenn., is planning to raise money from institutional investors as a prelude to a public offering.

TotalBank in Miami, Fla., has given President Luis de la Aguilera the additional job of chief executive.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) has hired the head of a nonprofit that promotes business in developing countries to lead its charitable programs.