West Coast Bancorp in Lake Oswego, Ore., benefitted greatly in the fourth quarter after reversing its remaining deferred tax asset valuation allowance.

Banks begin turning to Facebook and other sites to size up customers. Regulations require that they proceed with caution.

The overall success of the small to mid-sized business (SMB) market remains pivotal to the full economic recovery.

Provident Financial Services Inc. reported that its fourth-quarter earnings rose 23% from a year earlier, to $14.9 million, because of an increase in net loans.

Hancock Holding Co.'s fourth-quarter results included hefty costs associated with buying Whitney Holding Corp.

Bank of America Corp.'s Chief Executive Friday reiterated he doesn't think the bank needs to make new acquisitions.

The Monrovia, Calif., prepaid card company plans to roll out the bank account with a traditional debit card later this year, chief executive Steve Streit told American Banker.

Discover Financial Services is anticipating a joint enforcement action from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over the marketing of its credit card payment protection products, the company disclosed in a regulatory filing posted late Thursday afternoon.

Alliance Data Systems Corp. said Thursday that it had renewed its agreement to provide private-label credit card services to retailer Reeds Jewelers.

Green Dot Corp.'s fourth-quarter net income rose 76% from a year earlier, to $14.0 million, the prepaid card company said on Thursday evening.

SVB Financial Group's fourth-quarter net income was more than double what it earned a year earlier, at $35.6 million.

AGs and liberal groups that have withheld support for settlement are hailing the new task force announced in the State of the Union.

Walter J. Owens, the head of TD Bank's corporate and specialty lending, has left the company as part of an internal restructuring, a bank spokeswoman said on Friday.

Improved asset quality helped Boston Private Financial Holdings Inc. return to the black in 2011 despite declines in revenue.

Glacier Bancorp Inc. in Kalispell, Mont., reported higher earnings after it purged bad loans off its books.

Chemical Financial Corp. in Midland, Mich., reported that its fourth-quarter profit rose 49% from a year earlier, to $11.2 million, because a lower loan-loss provision.

Tennessee has managed to escape the downturn relatively unscathed, and hasn't had a bank fail since 2002. But a new crop of undercapitalized banks and other strugglers have put 10% of the state's banks at some risk of failure.

Cash and traditional cards are entrenched. Without rewards, the digital wallets are unlikely to make a dent.

Voice biometrics has had its share of starts and stops as an anti-fraud and authentication tool in the past decade. But a person's voice has more than 100 unique characteristics, compared with only 40 for a fingerprint, so the technology has strong potential for data security.

Columbia Banking System Inc. in Tacoma, Wash., and an aggressive buyer of failed banks, rode those acquisitions to a strong fourth quarter.