Bank of the West is putting a big focus on small-business lending while waiting for the sluggish loan growth environment to improve, says Andy Harmening, a senior executive vice president and regional banking group head. Harmening spoke to American Banker at the annual Best Practices in Retail Banking Symposium.

Bank of Montreal, Canada's fourth-biggest lender, intends to add 1 million customers annually, Chief Executive Officer William Downe said.

Equipment financing, once viewed as cost-prohibitive for smaller banks due to the financial commitment required to build in-house teams, has become more attractive due to opportunities to work with outside firms.

"Financial literacy" typically means educating the unbanked. For Wells Fargo's David Carroll, it means turning the already-banked into prospective wealth-management clients.

First BanCorp (FBP) in San Juan, Puerto Rico, has scrapped a plan to swap common stock for a certain type of preferred stock.

Astoria Financial (AF) in Lake Success, N.Y., is planning to redeem $125 million in debt.

Century Bancorp (CNBKA) in Medford, Mass., reported higher first-quarter results from lower credit costs and securities gains.

Young families looking to put down roots in a community must be served if we are going to grow our economy and sustain the housing recovery.

A federal judge is set to rule soon on whether merchantsobject.com is misleading U.S. retailers. The ruling carries important implications for the proposed multibillion-dollar settlement over credit card interchange fees.

WICHITA, Kan. — A federal judge here yesterday dismissed the majority of $590 million of securities claims brought by NCUA against Credit Suisse Securities in the 2009 collapses of U.S. Central FCU and WesCorp, dealing the credit union regulator another defeat in its efforts to recoup losses for the biggest credit union failures ever.

First Farmers Financial in Converse, Ind., has agreed to buy most of Bank of Indiana.

A securities law firm has filed a class-action suit to halt Renasant's acquisition of First M&F Corp.

More than half of the 4 million borrowers affected by the settlement will receive just $300, while three-quarters will receive less than $1,000, regulators said Tuesday.

Wells Fargo's (WFC) home-loan unit has sold a portfolio of reverse-mortgage servicing rights to Walter Investment Management (WAC).

Sterling Bancorp; Provident New York Bancorp

Credit unions are picking up auto lending share from the big banks.

Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase all received failing grades on Fannie Mae's test of mortgage servicers based on overall performance, customer service and foreclosure prevention efforts.

Bankers pointed to still-tepid credit demand as lending lost momentum in the first quarter, and worries over deteriorating standards and pricing.

PayPal's long-watched partnership with Discover, which will allow Discover merchants to accept PayPal payments at the point of sale, is on track to launch April 19.

Even though prepaid cards are already widely considered a product for the underbanked, usage patterns are showing more clearly just how different prepaid card users are from bank customers.