For most of 2011, small banks have slowly reduced interest rates on deposits enough to stabilize or perhaps lift margins. It remains unclear whether banks will be able to sustain wider spreads.

The former Cannabis Medical Solutions has turned over a new leaf. The company, which provides payments processing services to medical marijuana sellers and health care businesses, said Friday that it has changed its name to MediSwipe to facilitate its expansion to new markets.

Castle Creek Capital, a California private-equity firm, has invested $27 million in fast-growing NBC Holding Co. in New Orleans.

The Federal Reserve Board has given the troubled Commonwealth Bankshares Inc. in Norfolk, Va., until the end of July to either raise fresh capital or find a buyer.

In a move that seems to parallel U.S. policies, a consortium of top French banks has agreed to cut debit card interchange rates inside the nation's borders by as much as 36% in response to a price-fixing investigation by a government agency.

A Florida holding company formed three years ago to buy troubled banks has struck its third deal in the Tampa Bay area.

Castle Creek Capital, a California private-equity firm, has invested $27 million in fast-growing NBC Holding Co. in New Orleans.

The Federal Reserve Board has given the troubled Commonwealth Bankshares Inc. in Norfolk, Va., until the end of July to either raise fresh capital or find a buyer.

A Florida holding company formed three years ago to buy troubled banks has struck its third deal in the Tampa Bay area.

The Durbin amendment has sent another debit rewards program to the graveyard as USAA Federal Savings Bank will officially terminate its offering on Sept. 1.

TrustCo Bank Corp NY of Glenville, N.Y., has completed a stock offering, raising about $68.1 million in fresh capital.

The number of agreements card issuers had in place with universities and affiliated groups for affinity card programs declined 4% in 2010, and the amount of the money they paid such groups fell 13%, according to a report released Thursday by the Federal Reserve Board.

Two of Massachusetts' oldest thrifts, Salem Five Bank and Stoneham Savings Bank, are teaming up to create a $3.1 billion-asset company that would have nearly 30 branches in the suburbs north of Boston.

Directors at Nara Bancorp Inc. and Center Financial Corp. will have a few more months to deliberate over the planned merger of the two companies.

Before considering the question of when a secondary market for nonconforming loans might return, one should ask whether it should be revived in the first place. That's what participants in a recent panel discussion at the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Secondary Market Conference in New York pondered.

While the topic of a House hearing Thursday was supposed to be about mortgage servicing standards, the target was really the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration announced plans Thursday to give unemployed homeowners struggling to make mortgage payments more time to avoid foreclosure.

The title alone speaks volumes about an era when women had yet to gain the right to vote: "A Financial Courtship."

Commonwealth Bankshares Inc. and Hampton Roads Bankshares Inc., both in Norfolk, are potentially in hot water with federal officials. For some observers, the troubles began when each tried to keep pace with the biggest community bank in their market.

The Treasury Department released details Thursday about the first wave of capital released under the much-anticipated Small Business Lending Fund.