American Express Co. has launched a new business credit card that places further emphasis on ad spending. The new card builds on Amex's recent efforts to attract small-business owners through their online advertising.

San Francisco's city attorney said Bank of America Corp. agreed to a $5 million settlement of a suit over its use of the National Arbitration Forum to handle credit-card disputes.

Accenture said Monday it will buy Dallas-based mortgage outsourcing provider Zenta, in a move that puts the global consulting and outsourcing firm in the thick of the mortgage origination business and the massive loss-mitigation efforts of the mortgage servicing industry.

Record-low delinquencies are pointing toward further declines in writeoff rates, though the industry appears to be approaching the point where loan performance can improve no further.

Rockland Trust Co. in Massachusetts has hired a team of asset-based lenders away from Webster Bank of Waterbury, Conn.

BankAtlantic Bancorp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has promoted Charles Mohr to president of retail banking, the latest in a string of executive appointments the company has recently announced.

Navy Federal Credit Union is broadening remote access for its highly mobile member base by tapping the fast growing Android smarthphone market. Not all of the early feedback is positive, however.

Mutual holding companies now must explain why they want to waive dividends from their thrifts. Observers fear the rule could repel prospective investors.

WSFS Financial Corp. in Wilmington, Del., has named a former executive at rival Wilmington Trust Corp. to a key management position.

The number of residential loans entering the foreclosure process is falling, with "no evidence" that a backlog is building up that could suddenly flood the market, according to the chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The national delinquency rate on outstanding home mortgages ticked up to 8.44% in the second quarter of 2011, which means roughly $793.4 billion of residential loans are 30 days or more past due.

A small mutual thrift in Maryland has won approval from state and federal regulators to convert to a publicly traded company.

The PMI Group late Friday told its mortgage banking clients that it has immediately halted the writing of all new insurance policies.

Intuit's Mint.com is adding bill payment reminders to its free personal financial management service. The tool lets users add any bill, assign an amount, name and due date.

S1's board urged shareholders Monday to vote in favor of the company's pending merger with Fundtech because it says the deal will propel the technology vendors ahead of their competitors. The board also urged shareholders once again to vote against an unsolicited acquisition bid from ACI Worldwide.

It really is a great time to be a credit risk officer, but many people might think that is an absurd statement.

Efforts to reach a settlement that would end the long-running probe of foreclosure practices are snagged over whether banks will get broad legal immunity from state officials for mortgage-related claims.

Since U.S. legislators and regulators failed to learn how banks' shared delusions generate systemic risk, it's not surprising that European banking regulators also missed the point.

Regulators closed banks in Florida, Georgia and Illinois Friday, all in places were many banks have already met their demise. On Thursday, a bank failed in Pennsylvania, one of just a handful to fail in that state in the last few years.

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