Porter Bancorp in Louisville, Ky., has been told by the Federal Reserve to ensure that its PBI Bank complies with a consent order issued by the FDIC and the Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions.is under orders from the Federal Reserve to serve as a source of strength for its PBI bank.

Mr. Swanick got one thing right in his piece "So Where Are Those Post-Durbin Price Reductions for Consumers?" (Oct. 10): "No one likes price increases, especially when they appear suddenly and without apparent justification." Hidden, unjustified price increases are what the merchant community and our customers have been facing for years with the way big banks and card networks collude to set both credit and debit card interchange swipe fee prices.

PayPal's new access card gives the consumer an entrée to an array of linked accounts at the point of sale. "Another step in PayPal's march to disintermediate" traditional card companies, says one analyst.

Almost half express concerns about hacking and identity theft.

Republic Bancorp Inc. in Louisville, Ky., reported on Tuesday that it earned $7.9 million in the third quarter, an 8% increase from the same quarter last year. Its diluted earning per share rose 9%, to 38 cents.

Earnings for Western Alliance Bancorporation in Phoenix jumped 550% for the third quarter from a year ago to $13 million, due largely to strong loan growth and improved asset quality.

A community bank held the most deposits in at least nine Texas metropolitan areas at June 30, according to data recently issued by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

BALTIMORE – First Financial FCU has opened a student-run branch at Calvert Hall, where students are able to make deposits, open new accounts, make limited cash withdrawals and receive general information about all of the credit union’s services.

Residential lenders issued $350.3 billion of Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities in fiscal year 2011, down 15% from the previous fiscal year, according to new figures released by the Government National Mortgage Association.

Pacific Continental Corp. in Eugene, Ore., reported Monday that its income for the third quarter was $2.6 million, up 125% compared with the same period a year earlier. Earnings per share more than doubled, to 14 cents, beating consensus analysts’ estimates by three cents.

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Big banks and brokers have been aggressively paring their holdings of corporate bonds over the past few weeks, Federal Reserve data shows, and market participants said risk-wary bankers are unlikely to rebuild them for a while.

Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. have adopted two very different strategies to try to overcome an uncertain economy, increasing regulations and a prolonged slowdown in Wall Street activity — but as their third-quarter results showed on Monday, neither bank has found a foolproof solution.

When I am asked "How do we get bank customers back into the branch?" my answer is simple: How would you get them back into a Borders or Blockbuster store?

Rep. Jeff Clemens of Florida has introduced a bill that would make it illegal for banks operating in the state to charge customers monthly fees for using their debit cards.

Steve Antonakes, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's head of supervision, said the agency will rely significantly on policies developed already by the banking regulators. But the focus of exams will be quite different, however, as the CFPB makes consumers their top priority.

Citigroup chief executive Vikram Pandit has not spoken with Occupy Wall Street protestors, bank officials said on Monday, even though he offered to talk "anytime" and Gawker later published his cellphone number.

S&T Bank in Indiana, Pa., said Monday that it is launching a mobile banking system that allows customers to access their accounts via text, the Web or through an app on iPhone, Android and Blackberry.

The big banks keep getting bigger, but that has not stopped some community banks from growing deposit market share, even in cities where big banks are dominant. Community banks posted gains in New York and Hartford, Conn., and maintain top spots in cities such as Kansas City, Mo., and San Antonio, Texas.