CFS II, a Tulsa, Okla.-based debt collection agency, is scouting offices in North Carolina to potentially open a call center with as many as 2,000 jobs, according to company officials.

A month after expanding into Connecticut with its acquisition of a Hartford bank, Berkshire Hills Bancorp (BHLB) in Pittsfield, Mass., has added one of the state's most famous citizens to its board of directors.

I was surprised and disappointed by Jim Well's BankThink piece"Are Small Banks Big Banks' Pawns in Assault on Dodd-Frank?". As chair of the American Bankers Association's Community Bankers Council, I have the honor and responsibility of being a spokesperson for the community banking industry. I take this job seriously, and took great care to report on the growing regulatory burden that is suffocating our nation's small — but vital — financial institutions.

Cardlytics announced Wednesday that the company, which provides targeted offers to debit-card users, is offering a similar technology designed for credit card portfolios.

On YouTube, puppet shows are fine for consumers, but to appeal to businesses many banks are taking a more serious tone — and putting their own clients in the spotlight.

On Tuesday, Wells Fargo took its shot at overturning a landmark 2010 district court judgment against its overdraft fees and practices.

Possible violations of state and federal laws could jeopardize Costco's mortgage partnership program with several small banks. Some lawyers believe Costco should become a registered mortgage broker to comply with existing regulations.

Bankers are facing "rodeos" and "knife fights" as they try to strike gold again in payments.

Central Bank in Stillwater, Minn., is buying another distressed bank. It has a deal to buy the struggling Bank of Naples in Florida.

Jumio has released a software development kit to allow programmers to use its credit card scanning technology in mobile apps.

Bank of America is taking its small Florida pilot short-sale incentive program national.

When Residential Capital Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this week it left behind a trail of unsecured creditors with claims totaling well over $1 billion, according to court documents.

A 13% increase in refinance applications led to a 9.2% seasonally adjusted increase in overall application volume for the week ended May 11, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Mortgage delinquencies continued on their downward path in the first quarter with 7.4% of all loans considered past due, the lowest reading since the third quarter of 2008, according to new figures compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Jamie Dimon may no longer be President Obama's favorite banker, but the president is still apparently a fan of Dimon's bank.

The national credit card delinquency rate (the rate of borrowers 90 or more days past due) dropped to 0.73% in the first quarter ended March 31, from 0.78% in the previous quarter, with current levels well below historical norms, according to TransUnion's Trend Data report.

First Federal Savings Bank in Elizabethtown, Ky., is planning to sell four more of its branches as part of its ongoing effort to beef up its capital levels.

Consumer credit card and mortgage spending slowed from a year ago, with the average credit card debt per consumer falling 13% to $5,650 and the average mortgage debt decreasing 3% to $166,631, according to CreditKarma.com's U.S. Credit Score Climate Report.

CFS II, a Tulsa, Okla.-based debt collection agency, is scouting offices in North Carolina to potentially open a call center with as many as 2,000 jobs, according to company officials.

An estimated 718 different collection agencies and creditors were sued between April 16-30, according to data pulled from U.S. District courts.