Fremont Bank customers in northern California are about to find out how much faster and safer their debit cards can be.

By providing T24 on the Windows Azure platform, the two vendors are enabling local banks to offer services to people who live on less than $2 per day.

Floating loans to movie producers and rock stars may not be the banking industry's cure-all. But for a pair of banks, the entertainment business has provided a well-timed safe harbor.

The early read on M&A this earnings season: A weak economy and job market are putting a damper on deals, even as lending and revenue tick up.

Concerns over Bank of America Corp.'s capital levels took front and center during the bank's conference call with analysts discussing second-quarter results Tuesday.

Isis, the mobile carrier-led mobile payments venture that initially planned to compete against incumbent payment networks, now says it has formed relationships with them.

AmeriServ Financial Inc. in Johnstown, Pa., said that its second-quarter earnings increased by more than 300%, to $1.9 million, from the same period last year because it did not have to set aside any funds for loan losses.

Mercantile Bank reported second-quarter earnings of $2.4 million, compared to a reported loss of $700,000 a year earlier, driven largely by a reduction in credit costs.

Jones Bancshares LP agreed to serve as a source of strength to its $405.1 million-asset PrimeSouth Bank in Blackshear, which has been operating under a consent order from the Federal Deposit Insurancce Corp. since Jan. 31.

First Financial Holdings Inc. in Charleston, S.C., is looking to unload $155 million of mostly troubled real estate loans by the end of 2011.

First BanCorp in San Juan, P.R., has increased the maximum amount of its planned capital raise from $550 million to more than $562 million.

Electronic invoicing companies Transactis and Data Impact said Tuesday that they merged operations.

Bank of Hawaii in Honolulu has agreed to pay $9 million to settle a class-action lawsuit in which it was accused of improperly charging overdraft fees on debit card transactions.

Ingenico SA struck a deal with a distributor of point of sale equipment that will help the French company expand in the United States.

The card issuer launches Facebook application to offer cardholders customized deals based on their "likes" and interests.

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Consider this analogy for a moment.

Citi plans to issue chip-based EMV credit cards later this year.

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