A federal charter will allow lenders to provide more credit alternatives with lower costs as well as flexible payback periods and loan amounts to underbanked consumers.

Add Fitch Ratings to the growing chorus of banking industry voices expressing concern about the expiration of a bailout-era deposit protection program and its potential impact on small banks.

Bank of America Corp.'s Countrywide Financial unit is asking a judge to throw out claims for "billions of dollars" in damages by the Federal Housing Finance Agency for mortgage-backed securities bought by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

A government program that lets small-business owners refinance commercial mortgages is set to expire next week, but supporters are hopeful that Congress will revisit it after the November elections.

A few years after a pair of high-profile failures pared their ranks and damaged their credibility, bankers' banks are seeking to overcome weak loan demand by becoming trusted advisors to small institutions.

Robert T. Isham, who has a private practice in nearby Lake Bluff, succeeded Willard Bunn 3rd as the board's new leader, the bank said on Wednesday.

Orrstown Financial Services (ORRF) is in the market for a new chief operating officer, adding to the list of vacated posts at the struggling company.

A federal judge has thwarted efforts by African-American consumers to proceed with a class-action lawsuit against Option One Mortgage in which the plaintiffs alleged that they were charged higher fees on home loans than white borrowers were.

Every consumer should have access to a low-cost, full service bank account that helps them make necessary payments, manage cash flow and avoid ancillary fees.

A law firm that won an $8.5 billion settlement from Bank of America tied to faulty mortgage bonds said Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley failed to service $73 billion of similar securities.

Lynn Harton has held key titles at South Financial, Regions Financial and BB&T. As South Financial's CEO, he helped orchestrate the South Carolina company's sale to TD Bank.

Several well-known U.S. banks and credit card companies call themselves "global." During a two-week vacation in Thailand, an American Banker editor put their claims to the test.

Wintrust Financial (WTFC) has agreed to buy HPK Financial, the parent of Hyde Park Bank and Trust.

A simpler calculation isn't necessarily the right one. If a capital ratio misrepresents a bank's risk or creates incentives to take on more of it, simple is scarcely an improvement.

Real estate values in some Detroit neighborhoods are surging as the state's automobile industry recuperates and investors flip bank-seized properties.

CLEVELAND – Cardinal Community CU is opening a branch at Lake Catholic High School.

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William C. Dudley said the central bank's new stimulus is vital for boosting "unacceptably slow" improvement in economic growth.

Lending for mortgages dropped in 2011 as refinancings declined and many borrowers relied on loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration, according to bank regulators' 2011 data on housing loans.

Cullen/Frost Bankers will close four branches in the Rio Grande Valley this fall. The company gained the branches after it bought the parent company of the $401 million-asset Alamo Bank of Texas in 2006.

New HMDA data show FHA- and VA-supported loans holding a huge share of the market as overall home loans and refis are still on the decline.