No technology yet is as effective at initiating and/or strengthening real relationships as smiles, personal conversations and consultations are.

Eastern Bank in Boston has agreed to acquire Centrix Bank & Trust in New Hampshire in what would be Eastern's first expansion outside Massachusetts.

Borrowers are taking on higher credit balances after dropping more than $1.5 trillion in mortgage debt since the financial crisis, according to a report from Equifax.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), the biggest U.S. bank, agreed to pay bond insurer Syncora Guarantee Inc. $400 million to end lawsuits over mortgage-backed securities.

BBVA Compass (BBVA) of Birmingham, Ala., has opened two new banking centers in The Woodlands, Texas, a fast-growing suburb north of Houston.

A group of marketers agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they took part in a scheme that bombarded consumers with tens of millions of spam text messages that lured consumers with phony gift card offers, and then directed recipients to deceptive websites.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is calling on the largest U.S. credit card companies to make credit scores and other related content freely available to customers.

Carrington Holding Co. has acquired Clear Financial Solutions Limited, a residential mortgage brokerage based in Scotland, in a move that marks the U.S. mortgage conglomerate's expansion overseas.

Rules enacted last year appear to be steadily forcing banks to exit the mortgage servicing business, transferring such rights to nonbanks. The situation is stoking fears on Capitol Hill and elsewhere that regulators went too far.

More credit card companies are offering free credit scores to their customers as they look for ways to distinguish their products from those of their rivals.

Capital One (COF) has appointed Daniel deBrauwere head of business credit, a newly created role at the bank's asset-based commercial lending and specialty finance unit.

Jay Sidhu's Pennsylvania company is building a separately branded bank that, like Simple, will target a demographic that feels no particular affinity toward traditional banks.

Regulators continue to make Bank Secrecy Act compliance one of their top priorities, according to newly available information on enforcement actions.

Pock.io is allowing consumers in the U.K. to buy gift cards from large merchants such as Apple by using Bitcoin and other digital currencies.

Bankers gathered for the ICBA convention in Hawaii say intensifying competition from larger players is prompting more discussion about the need to gain scale — most likely through consolidation.

The Federal Trade Commission has sued a group of affiliated collection agencies and their owners for using the words "Federal," "American," "U.S.," or "State" in their names and for collection tactics such as threatening to arrest customers.

Federal regulators are shining an increasingly harsh light on the debt collections practices of banks and third-party agencies, forcing many to drastically alter the ways in which they interact with delinquent consumers. American Banker outlines the changes underway and how they may trickle down to collections efforts around the nation.

The GSEs reported big profits for 2013 but even the companies' executives question the sustainability of those earnings.

Bruce Berkowitz, the money manager battling the U.S. government over the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is calling on the boards of the mortgage-finance giants to build capital instead of turning over their profits to the Treasury now that they've returned to profitability.

Citigroup Inc. (C), the third-biggest U.S. bank, said its Banamex USA unit received grand jury subpoenas related to compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and federal anti-money-laundering requirements.