Washington

WASHINGTON — A smaller percentage of U.S. households were unbanked in 2013 compared with two years earlier, just as less traditional financial services products such as prepaid cards grew in usage among those without a bank account.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is slated to hear arguments Tuesday in a case that could determine when and how borrowers are allowed to cancel their mortgages.

WASHINGTON — If people of different backgrounds and beliefs can come together to serve effectively on the board of a credit union, then members of both parties in Congress should be able to do the same.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) became involved with credit unions for the most classic of credit union reasons: as a way to help those who were underserved by traditional financial service providers.

Columbia Banking System in Tacoma, Wash., reported higher quarterly profits that featured lower costs.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — NCUA is set to receive more than $17,000 in fines from 44 credit unions that have agreed to civil money penalties as a result of filing late second-quarter call reports.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule Monday that will allow institutions that limit the amount of customer data they share to post annual privacy notices online rather than by paper delivery.

That's the verdict from many analysts after President Obama on Friday signed an executive order mandating the adoption of chip-and-PIN technology in government cards and enabled its use in facilities like Post Offices.

Riverview Bancorp in Vancouver, Wash., is facing pressure from a large investor to sell itself.

WASHINGTON — The White House is slated to unveil a major package of initiatives on Friday to increase data security for financial transactions, including an executive order to add chip-and-PIN technology to government-issued credit and debit cards.

WASHINGTON — From her first job at a small credit union to her current job in Congress, Barbara Lee has been working to help credit unions in one form or another.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court could have a say in how regulators issue guidance on interpretive rules that are not subject to notice and comment, which could have ramifications for NCUA and the credit union community.

AmericanWest Bank in Spokane, Wash., has agreed to buy the $468 million-asset Bank of Sacramento in California for $60 million in cash.

Complete Financial Solutions in Spokane, Wash., has agreed to buy Northern Star Financial in Mankato, Minn.

WASHINGTON — Jim Nussle learned about credit unions the hard way, and it's a story the new president and CEO of CUNA tells regularly about the importance of CU advocacy.

There's a growing push to revisit how banks are determined to be "systemically important" under the Dodd-Frank Act, but questions about how to resolve the problem still loom large.

BEO Bancorp in Heppner, Ore., has agreed to buy Bank Reale, in Pasco, Wash. A purchase price for the cash-and-stock deal was not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter.

The $3.2 billion-asset HomeStreet will pay $128 million in stock for the $870 million-asset Simplicity, the companies said in a press release Monday.

WASHINGTON — The merger agreement between the Federal Home Loan Banks of Seattle and Des Moines contains a little-noticed provision that would force one of them to pay a $57 million penalty if it break off talks.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has agreed to ramp up its security policies on data collection in response to a recent Government Accountability Office report that raised nearly a dozen recommendations on the topic.