Commerce in Worcester, Mass., has agreed to buy the parent of Mercantile Bank & Trust Co. in Boston for $26.5 million in cash.

NEW YORK — Lower late payments and increased card use helped Discover Financial Services (DFS) post a 36% increase in fiscal first-quarter profit to beat analysts' estimates.

In the depths of the financial crisis, the FDIC under Chairman Sheila Bair extended 100% insurance coverage to non-deposit transactions balances of all banks. Known as the Transaction Account Guarantee program, this extraordinary extension of FDIC insurance coverage to all transaction balances was a good idea at the time, but should be allowed to expire at the end of the year.

The Obama administration wants the agency to give more consideration of tool meant to help troubled borrowers keep their homes.

Discover Financial Services is partnering with the operator of Puerto Rico's ATM and debit network, as part of its ongoing efforts to increase acceptance abroad by teaming up with local networks.

Moving toward fully electronic payments is a matter of public health and social justice, according to author David Wolman.

PSB Bancorp in Wisconsin is requiring Marathon State Bank to pay out a special dividend before the deal closes. While unusual now, the move harkens back to a pre-crisis tactic that existed when capital wasn't a concern.

The state of Hawaii is considering using federal stimulus money to create a "clean economy bank" that would make low-interest rate loans to clean energy companies.

American Express Co. is partnering with Office Depot Inc. to offer its prepaid cards at some office supply stores across the country.

Sales officers and pricing desks frequently misjudge customers' sensitivity to rates and overpay for deposits. Similarly, banks that underestimate duration leave money on the table.

HSBC Holdings PLC's (HBC) Canadian unit said Wednesday it will wind down its consumer finance operation in Canada following an extensive review and after having failed to find a buyer for the business.

The impact of the so-called Durbin Amendment on small financial institutions was a hot topic Wednesday at a credit-union conference in Washington.

MoneyGram International has named a new chief financial officer and an executive to oversee emerging markets.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Bank of America Corp., the two biggest U.S. banks, are cutting senior mortgage traders and salesmen amid a decline in the asset-backed securities market, people with knowledge of the moves said.

John Walsh, the acting Comptroller of the Currency, used an appearance at the American Bankers Association's governmental summit to state the case against creating an alternative appeals process.

A Michigan bank that recently endured three straight years of losing money and a Seattle thrift that was once on the verge of failure are among 22 banks and thrifts that the investment bank Sandler O'Neill & Partners LP predicts will be added to the Russell 3000 stock index this year.

Activist investor Joseph Stilwell wants the company to find a seller a month after one of his representatives quit the board.

San Diego County Credit Union is now offering a range of mobile banking services through Fiserv's Mobiliti and Mobile Source Capture products.

Prepaid Financial Services Ltd. has two new partnerships to provide white-label prepaid products in the U.S. and Canada.

Bank of America will sell its Irish consumer credit-card unit to Apollo Global, the latest business unit sale by a shrinking B of A.