Dumping entire categories of clients is a crude and inappropriate reaction to large fines, says Stephen Platt, author of Criminal Capital: How the Finance Industry Facilitates Crime." However, he says, regulators should hold a dialogue with banks and attempt to accommodate businesses that carry high risk but whose services are desperately required, such as remittances to war-torn Somalia.

The government has added further protections to reverse mortgage borrowers' spouses who are not named in the loan agreement, but placed conditions under which they are ineligible for older protections.

EverBank Financial in Jacksonville, Fla., reported higher quarterly results largely because of increased commercial originations.

Marketplace lenders are seizing on current investor enthusiasm after the December public listing of LendingClub. SoFi and Funding Circle have set new origination targets, and new capital markets deals may help replace bank credit lines for Blue Elephant Capital Management and perhaps others.

SimpleFi is working with a New Jersey bank to pitch its payday loan alternative and financial educational services to employers across the country come February 1. It represents part of the trend of disruptors rethinking payroll data.

Sun Bancorp's CEO made a bold forecast, telling analysts this week that the company should be profitable throughout the year. Not bad for a bank that has lost $350 million since 2008

Banks partnering with prepaid card providers face the potential of higher deposit insurance fees and other ramifications from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. classifying accounts as "brokered."

Aiming to address a nationwide shortage of affordable housing, FHA has launched a risk-sharing pilot program that it hopes will encourage community development lenders to finance the rehabilitation of smaller multifamily apartments.

UMB Financial in Kansas City, Mo., reported lower quarterly profits after taking a loss on certain alternative investments.

Arch Capital Group is repurposing a subsidiary to insure mortgages that are headed for private securitizations. Insuring such loans separately from the unit that works with Fannie and Freddie lets Arch offer more favorable terms to lenders.

Citigroup has agreed to change its policies that prevented low-income consumers from opening checking and savings accounts.

Anchor Bancorp in Madison, Wis., has agreed to sell one of its branches to Royal Bank in Elroy, Wis.

Arizona lawmakers voted Tuesday to expand a program that helps doctors repay their medical school debts if they agree to go where they are needed.

Hudson City Bancorp in Paramus, N.J., reported lower quarterly profits as its loan book keeps shrinking.

Consumer confidence in January rose to its highest point since before the recession, according to a new report.

Doral Financial in San Juan, Puerto Rico, said that the FDIC has placed its bank under a prompt corrective action directive, an enforcement order that is often considered one of the last public warnings before regulators move to place the bank into conservatorship.

Expert Global Solutions Inc., holding company of collection industry giant NCO Financial Systems Inc., has announced a large expansion in Virginia Beach, Va.

Cullen/Frost Bankers in San Antonio has a new president.

Big banks had a forgettable fourth quarter thanks to old problems like tight margins and new ones like the collapse in oil prices, but executives who could fall back on products such as credit cards, insurance and investment banking had something to brag on.

Critics of online alternative lenders argue that their underwriting models are unproven and that a financial crisis could bring the whole industry crashing down. But while Lending Club and other startups may be relatively new to the scene, they're no greenhorns.