The $350 million-asset Pacific Commerce said in a press release Thursday that it will pay $10.50 a share in cash and stock for the $211 million-asset ProAmerica.

The $3.4 billion-asset holding company for Five Star Bank received a letter on Wednesday from Clover Partners' managing director, Johnny Guerry, saying management has made the wrong decision on two recent deals. Clover owns about 5.2% of Financial Institutions.

TriState Capital Holdings in Pittsburgh has agreed to buy asset management firm Killen Group in Berwyn, Pa., for between $30 million to $35 million in cash, based on conditions tied to the asset manager's cash flow.

FIS in Jacksonville, Fla., has partnered with the Venture Center to create an incubation lab to boost innovation in financial technology.

The legal status of marijuana is likely to shift dramatically next year, with around ten states considering some form of decriminalization. But banks will likely have a longer wait until the rules around serving marijuana businesses are cleared up.

Moven will soon prompt its customers for usernames and passwords only for riskier transactions. By removing the login for most functions, the company aims to drive engagement in an app meant to be used on the go.

Ramamurthi has transformed a 123-year-old institution with one branch serving a dusty Kansas town into a seedbed for disruptive financial technology — not to mention a wildly profitable generator of fee income.

KeyCorp will keep and expand First Niagara Financial Group's Buffalo, N.Y.-based mortgage operations to spur along its return to being a player in residential lending.

The success of a new blockchain-technology initiative will hinge on the ability of many influential players to work together: IBM, Digital Asset Holdings, R3, other tech companies, banks, Swift, the London Stock Exchange and the Linux Foundation.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ordered payday and pawn lender EZCorp Inc. to pay $10.5 million for alleged illegal debt collection tactics.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Thursday that it had fined one of the largest dealer-finance companies, CarHop, $6.5 million for inaccurately reporting consumer credit data.

LifeLock Inc. agreed Thursday to pay $100 million to settle FTC charges that it failed to properly protect its customers’ data and misrepresented the strength of its security. It's the largest order enforcement case to date to come out of the FTC.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's payday loan proposal threatens many money services businesses on the front lines of stopping money-laundering and terrorist financing.

Litigation citing violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Telephone Consumer Protection Act and Fair Credit Reporting Act dropped in November compared to October but remain significantly higher year-to-date.

TowneBank in Suffolk, Va., has agreed to buy Monarch Financial Holdings in Chesapeake, Va., for $220.6 million in stock.

EZCORP Inc. has responded to the $10.5 million settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau related to its payday lending and installment lending practices.

Now is not the time for the Federal Housing Administration — which has stayed strong amid turmoil — to reduce its market share.

Hanmi Financial in Los Angeles has withdrawn its proposal to merge with BBCN Bancorp. Hanmi said in a press release Thursday that its decision follows BBCN's agreement to buy Wilshire Bancorp.

Ally Financial, seeking new sources of customers, will finance used cars sold through Beepi, an 18- month-old website that lets people buy vehicles with a few clicks and no test drive.

Seventeen colleges will receive warning letters this week from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau stating they may be in violation of federal law for not disclosing agreements they have with credit card companies.