Alerus Financial (ALRS) in Grand Forks, N.D., has acquired Private Bancorp. in Minneapolis for $15.9 million in cash and other considerations.

Wells Fargo & Co., the world's most valuable bank, said profit increased 3.8 percent on lower costs even as the lender snapped a 17-quarter streak of rising per- share earnings.

Chicopee Bancorp (CBNK) in Massachusetts said it expects to report a second-quarter loss due to a spike in its loan-loss provision.

KeyCorp (KEY) has added a retired federal bank regulator to its board.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau settlement with ACE Cash Express Thursday sends another strong message about practices it may target in industry rules.

OFG Bancorp (OFG) in San Juan, Puerto Rico, added two members to its executive team.

Regulatory fines, lawsuits and other scandals have made it difficult to repair banks' damaged public images, 80% of marketing and communications executives from financial firms said in a recent survey. That's not all they are stewing over, either.

A spike in smaller deals, along with improved premiums, is providing hope that buyers and sellers are finally coming together as industry experts forecast several years earlier.

Discover President Roger Hochschild, testifying at a government antitrust trial of American Express in federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y., said his company tried to offer low interchange rates in the late 1990s and then gave up because bigger, higher-cost rivals had too much market power.

In the world of official corporate comments, give peer-to-peer lender Lending Club a gold star. A rival firm, Upstart, says that one of its co-founders, Paul Gu, applied to Lending Club for a loan and was offered a high interest rate, but Lending Club challenged that tale in a humorous rebuttal.

Amazon.com is accused in a lawsuit filed Thursday of billing customers millions of dollars in charges racked up unknowingly by children.

Applications for loans to purchase newly constructed homes were down 5% in June from the month before, according to Mortgage Bankers Association data.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has reached a $10 million settlement with payday lender ACE Cash Express over allegations that it used illegal debt collection practices.

Banks approved a greater portion of small-business loan applications in June compared with last year, an indicator of an improving economy, according to a Biz2Credit study issued this week.

Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo won dismissal of lawsuits brought by the city of Miami claiming they flooded minority neighborhoods with predatory mortgages before the housing bubble burst.

Home Federal Bancorp of Louisiana (HFBL) in Shreveport, La., has hired a new chief financial officer.

The percentage of U.S. consumers who are late on their loan payments remained at near-record lows in the first quarter, according to a new report by the American Bankers Association.

The Texas-based lender, charged with various illegal debt collection tactics, has responded to the action.

Cadence Bancorp in Houston has raised $245 million in an oversubscribed debt issuance.

From tight credit conditions to empty nesters, here is a litany of problems weighing on the housing market, as summarized in the minutes of last month's Federal Reserve policy meeting.