Commercial banks rarely asked a customer to leave if the profitability of the account was underwater. Those days are gone. Capital is scarce, and every penny must be put to work.

U.S. consumers filed an estimated 13,901 lawsuits against collection agencies and creditors last year, including 10,914 Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) cases.

The mergers and acquisitions revival in banking is likely to increase chief executive turnover. But putting more senior bankers on the streets won't necessarily help institutions that have been struggling to recruit leaders.

As directors and officers of failed banks brace for FDIC lawsuits, an intense legal battle is developing over accessing files at their former institutions.

National Penn Bancshares Inc. in Boyertown, Pa., has announced the completion of a $150 million recapitalization with the private-equity firm Warburg Pincus.

Credit unions are being advised to pursue lending to credit-challenged members to boost loan growth.

A pair of banking companies have extended their deadlines for rights offerings due to technical difficulties.

DBA International has named Jan P. Stieger as its executive director, the debt-buying industry association's board of directors announced Monday. She was previously executive director at the California Association of Collectors (CAC).

A man accused of running an illegal collection business pleaded guilty Friday to felony charges of mail fraud and tax evasion at federal court.

Consumer borrowing rose in November for a second consecutive month, led by an increase in non-revolving credit - including student loans held by the government, according to a Federal Reserve G.19 report on consumer credit released Friday.

As the epicenter of bank failures in 2010, Florida gave 2011 its first casualty. Florida was home to 18% of the 157 failures last year, with 29. Following a two-week hiatus, two banks failed on the first Friday of the new year.

First Citizens BancShares in Raleigh, N.C., has finally combined its two main subsidiaries. The $21 billion-asset company said IronStone Bank, its thrift, merged into First Citizens Bank, a state-chartered bank, on Friday.

As the epicenter of bank failures in 2010, Florida gave 2011 its first casualty. Florida was home to 18% of the 157 failures last year, with 29. Following a two-week hiatus, two banks failed on the first Friday of the new year.

WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday reiterated the importance of community banks to the economy and the need to ensure regulatory burdens faced by small banks are minimized.

Frequent bank investor Thomas Brown has taken a stake in Mercantile Bank Corp. of Grand Rapids, Mich.

Two senior officers tied to a fraud that eventually led to Sterling Financial Corp.'s forced sale have settled a civil lawsuit with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In the midst of the largest Korean-American bank merger, Center Financial Corp. has "terminated" its chief executive.

It's unlikely that SunTrust Bank wanted to become a part owner of a small North Carolina bank when it made a $15 million loan nearly three years ago.