A higher loan-loss provision and a drop in interest income drove VSB Bancorp Inc.'s fourth-quarter earnings down 66%, to $162,668, from a year earlier.

Under orders to divest branches as a condition of its pending deal with HSBC Bank USA, First Niagara Financial Group Inc. in Buffalo announced early Thursday that it is selling more than three-dozen western New York branches to one of its closest competitors.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Empower FCU said it sold its branch in nearby Big Flats, N.Y., to Elmira Savings Bank.

NEWARK, Del. – Community Powered FCU will break ground on a new headquarters and retail branch project later this month on Route 40 in Bear.

While all eyes were on Bank of America's stock price last year, the Bank of America Merrill Lynch retirement and employee financial benefit plan businesses quietly thrived by pulling in $19 billion of new financial benefit plan assets.

The re-emergence of a sharp seasonal dip in payment rates late last year was mirrored by a jump in credit card borrowing. The percentage of balances that cardholders pay off each month is still higher than during the mortgage boom, however, when large numbers of borrowers drew on home equity to pay other debts.

Kevin Cummings, the CEO at Investors Bancorp, is eager to buy more banks and thrifts as his New Jersey company seeks deposits to fund its growing commercial book.

Susquehanna Bancshares Inc. in Lititz, Pa., said it expects to complete its acquisition of Tower Bancorp in Harrisburg, Pa., on Feb. 17 after securing regulatory approval.

A letter to the editor in response to "Citi’s Facebook App Exposes the Perils and Rewards of Social Media," published online Jan. 3 and in print Jan. 4.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is planning to shutter 131 farm lending offices in 32 states as part of a broad mandate from the Obama administration to trim $150 million from its annual budget.

Loan demand may be weak at banks these days, but annuity sales are booming.

A Canadian software provider is the first of many middleware companies that PayPal says is key to bringing its online payment system to the physical point of sale.

With President Obama touting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as a symbol of his support for the little guy, Republicans struggle for a response that resonates with voters.

The economic benefit of home-loan refinancing to consumers far exceeds the effect of lost returns to investors who provide the residential financing, according to a Federal Reserve Bank of New York research paper, in the bank's latest salvo in support of a more active U.S. housing policy.

Two small Kansas banks that have been fixtures in their rural communities for decades are planning to merge in a bid to improve efficiency and better contend with increasing compliance costs.

Regions Financial in Birmingham, Ala., is issuing an exclusive debit card honoring the Crimson Tide's 2011 BCS championship.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released supplemental guidance Wednesday to its exam manual, which will help examiners looking at mortgage origination at both banks and nonbanks.

While most banks have stayed mum about Richard Corday's recess appointment, Citigroup weighed in with its analysis in a blog post Wednesday.

Two community banks have recently implemented products, including mobile check capture and a rewards app, from Malauzai Software.