CHICAGO — Bank of America Corp.'s decision to charge $5 a month to debit-card users has sparked conversations across the industry around the best way to respond to the banking giant's PR nightmare, and the issue is not just hypothetical — at least one institution is already seeing the effect of B of A's fee in its recruitment efforts.

So 10 lawyers and an investment banker got together in a room at AmericanWest … No, it's not a joke. They helped revitalize a troubled bank and now have an award from the Turnaround Management Association to prove it.

Wells Fargo & Co. has bolstered its mergers and acquisitions group with the hiring of two new managing directors.

Bank of the Ozarks Inc. reported income totaling $83.8 million for the nine months that ended Sept. 30, representing an almost 78% increase from the same period in 2010.

TowneBank in Suffolk, Va., is buying a Raleigh, N.C., insurance agency and merging it into its insurance subsidiary.

As credit unions seek to grab a bigger share of deposits, State Employees' CU has become the first credit union to publicly disclose its confidential financial condition as determined by regulators–its CAMEL code.

American Momentum Bank is committed to buying Brazos Valley Bank in College Station, Texas, though it swapped out its application with the Federal Reserve.

ATBancorp in Dubuque has agreed to invest an initial $10 million in United American Bank in San Mateo and will receive warrants to the acquire the bank's 2.5 million shares, at 30 cents each, over the next five years.

Savannah Bancorp Inc. in Georgia said earlier this week that its bank had entered into a written agreement with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency that reflects an "elevated level" of classified assets.

ECB Bancorp Inc. in Engelhard, N.C., said Thursday that its shareholders had approved several proposals that were needed for the company's $80 million private placement.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – CommonWealth One FCU has located an ATM in the main lobby of the brand new Alexandria Police Headquarters.

NCR Corp. has signed a deal with PayPal Inc. that will allow consumers to make person-to-person payments through ATMs.

MetLife Inc. said it will explore a sale of its residential mortgage business along with its banking operations, the latest effort by the life insurer to avoid costly new regulations.

WASHINGTON — Credit unions appear to be facing an uphill battle in their ongoing effort to pass legislation that would double their cap on business lending.

A bipartisan bill in the House seeks to repeal the Durbin Amendment. But for now, at least, its prospects in the Senate appear dim.

Putting a commission in charge of the bureau would at best produce partisan gridlock, and risks handing the young agency over to financial institutions.

Consumers are understandably angry that their debit cards and checking accounts will be subject to new fees. No one likes price increases, especially when they appear suddenly and without apparent justification. However, the current backlash against the nation's large banks is misdirected, and the rationale for these new fees is generally misunderstood.

When banks attempt to mark up the transaction involving a dollar, the fee for the service is stark. It stands out in a manner that makes it both obvious and occasionally controversial.

PayPal is putting itself at nearly every possible point of a consumer's banking relationship – from account-opening to payments and even reward-redemption – through a series of new partnerships.

An ongoing tug-of-war between compensation and regulation has spread to retirement packages at community banks after a Michigan company opted to withhold about half of a payout to a retiring executive until an outstanding enforcement action is lifted.