President Obama's fiscal 2011 budget proposal would provide $994 million for the Small Business Administration, a 21% increase over the 2010 enacted level.

Portfolio Recovery Associates Inc., a Norfolk, Va. debt buyer, announced this afternoon a "mutually agreeable resolution" to a racial discrimination lawsuit filed by a former executive.

A Colorado community bank has found success in wealth management using a most unusual model.

Over the past 20 years, a range of companies have been steadily making a grab for businesses that had once been the purview of banks.

A former clerk at Pioneer Collection Agency received three years probation today for stealing a $20,000 check intended for the New Jersey Division of Taxation.

CompuCredit Corp., an Atlanta financial services company, will close four collection call centers by March 31. An estimated 740 employees - mostly collectors - will lose their jobs as a result.

A home mortgage lender that previously settled Federal Trade Commission charges of discriminatory lending will have to hire an outside consultant to make sure it does not illegally charge higher prices to African-American and Hispanic consumers, according to the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection.

The general public has long held a belief that the collection industry is recession-proof. In 2009, if not before, that belief may have been proven wrong once and for all as most industry leading companies reported declining profits and liquidations and rising impairment charges.

Two small New England banks are moving into a line of business few their size have tried. Is this the future of community banking?

The Huffington Post's viral campaign urging people to move deposits from large banks to community banks has generated considerable buzz since it was launched in late December. But will it succeed in helping small banks generate more deposits?

By playing up how they can help create jobs, credit unions are gaining momentum with their effort to increase the cap on member business lending.

Understanding that they are only as healthy as the communities they serve, banks are using their marketing prowess to help clients sell everything from burgers to bikes.

FAIRFAX, Va.-While small credit unions face a wholly different set of challenges in delivering consistency across all delivery channels, the antidote to those issues is the same medicine - a strong brand image.

RALEIGH, N.C.-More and more often, the teller a member is talking to might be miles away. That's the case with Coastal FCU here, which is using remote teller technology to upgrade its branches while managing costs.

EAST LANSING, Mich.-The headquarters of MSU FCU has been recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council for earning a LEED certification as a gold building.

NEW YORK-When it comes to far-flung networks, it doesn't get much more widespread than United Nations FCU's reach.

SAN JOSE, Calif.-Long-distance marriages are becoming a growing trend, as more credit unions from one part of the country are receiving regulators' blessings to acquire struggling institutions based thousands of miles away.

SEATTLE-During a CU merger, the focus is often on internal issues such as personnel and eliminating duplicative costs, but CUs often overlook the need to ensure the brand experience is not diluted.

NORTHGLENN, Colo.-Several employees of Horizons North Credit Union here work late every Thursday night to call members and simply thank them for their business, with a soft cross-sell.

PITTSBURGH-A-K Valley FCU's recent to close a branch due to repeated robberies raises a question for some over whether operating branches in low-income or high-crime neighborhoods is a losing proposition.