As the world accelerates toward faster and contactless payments, the U.S. has been reinforcing checks, avoiding global payments standards and pursuing closed-loop innovations that further isolate it.

Citigroup named Barbara Desoer chief operating officer of its banking subsidiary and said she will "deepen" a male-dominated management bench. Desoer, one of the industry's most prominent women, retired from Bank of America in 2012 after her duties were gradually diminished.

Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) in Columbus, Ohio, has agreed to buy Camco Financial (CAFI) in Cambridge, Ohio.

While American Banker is celebrating the Most Powerful Women in Banking and Finance tonight in New York City, the National Geographic Society will be opening a major, three-year traveling exhibition focused on female photojournalists in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has agreed to pull its enforcement attorneys out of exams with financial companies after relentless opposition from bankers to their presence.

Regulation-by-numbers under Dodd-Frank is taking the art out of community banking and narrowing the borrowing window for lenders and needy borrowers alike. That was one of the key take-aways from the Federal Reserve's first ever conference on community bank research.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Park Community FCU plans to break ground next week on its new headquarters, a two-story, 43,000-square-foot building.

Prudential Bancorp (PBIP) in Philadelphia has completed its second-step conversion and $71.4 million public offering.

Almost everyone has an opinion about how to reform Fannie and Freddie, but some housing experts say the status quo isn't so bad.

Republic Bancorp's deal to buy the bank operations of H&R Block collapsed because of regulators' apparent concerns about the mixing of banking and tax-refund processing. The deal would have helped restore a business already bruised by conflicts with regulators.

Risk managers are hopeful that the demand for new loans will rise, but a new study shows that they are increasingly worried that existing loans may go sour.

Banks had to devote more money to compliance in the third quarter after regulators increased the rate of new enforcement actions.

California regulators are warning banks and credit unions chartered by the Golden State to refrain from processing transactions for 16 online consumer lenders.

Enterprise Financial and Reliance Bancshares in St. Louis, under pressure to grow like most community banks, believe they have figured out how to expand into faraway markets yet avoid the mistakes that cost many banks during the financial crisis.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau penalized two nonbank mortgage lenders on Wednesday for incorrectly reporting data to regulators in a move certain to draw significant attention from the rest of the industry.

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators on Wednesday urged banks and other financial institutions to consider loan modification plans for borrowers affected by the government shutdown, which is now in its second week.

Reports that the ceiling on government-backed mortgages may fall at the start of 2014 have much of the housing industry up in arms.

Banks tightened their small-business lending in September after three months in which they approved more loans, a slowdown that could reflect banks' anxiety over the government shutdown.

An estimated 48,000 foreclosures were completed in the U.S. in August, down from 72,000 in August 2012, a decrease of 34%, reports CoreLogic.

TGR Financial in Naples, Fla., has agreed to buy Shamrock Bank of Florida.