JPMorgan Chase (JPM) is getting serious about getting to know its customers.

S&T Bank (STBA) has opened a new branch in State College, Pa., and hired two local community bankers to expand its presence in the region.

Two of the three major nonbank mortgage servicers are sticking by plans to acquire more portfolios from banks this year, despite regulatory scrutiny and concern they are growing too fast.

Lowell Group, a purchaser of non-performing consumer debt portfolios in the United Kingdom, is working on a deal aimed at slashing its cost of borrowing.

PNC Financial Services received a subpoena regarding the return rate for its payment-processor clients from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Louisiana's efforts to create a central collections office to pursue more than $1 billion in debts owed to the state government could take several years to complete, officials said.

Banks at risk of failure fell for the 11th straight quarter to nearly half the high mark of March 2011, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Excavators have begun tearing down 1,500 dilapidated homes in Flint, Mich., in an attempt to lift the housing market. The funding for the work comes from a surprising source — the Hardest Hit Fund of the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

American Express is seeking to broaden its customer base by offering its first no-fee credit product that grants holders access to all of the lender's rewards programs.

Payments played a major role in the 2014 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Here are some of the biggest announcements that came out during the conference, and a few from just before or afterwards that were no less important to the mobile payments community.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency shuttered the $130 million-asset Millennium Bank in Sterling, Va., while Pennsylvania state regulators closed the $63 million-asset Vantage Bank in Horsham, Pa.

Evidence of fraud at Citigroup's Mexican unit may be endangering its reputational recovery from the financial crisis, and has prompted unusually blunt, and angry, public language from CEO Michael Corbat.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has approved Horizon Bancorp's (HBNC) request to acquire SCB Bancorp of East Lasting, Mich., and its subsidiary, Summit Community Bank.

Union Bank in San Francisco and its Japanese parent company plan a series of changes to its corporate names and structure, all in response to the Federal Reserve Board's plan to overhaul the way it supervises foreign banks.

Bryn Mawr Bank in Pennsylvania starts every acquisition discussion the same way: the top talent agrees to stay or Bryn Mawr is not interested in pursuing a deal. It's a lesson for anyone considering buying or selling a bank.

The Federal Trade Commission is closing a case against debt buyer Security Credit Services and Jacob Law Group that involved violations of both the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and FTC Act.

Upstate New York banker John Buhrmaster will spend the much of the next year fighting for community banks as they struggle to keep pace with mounting regulations. But he also intends to remind his counterparts that it's crucial for them to find new income streams.

U.S. regional banks see favorable growth prospects in Canada. Its limited number of banks seems to invite competition, and its regulatory and economic climates are considered more favorable than those in the U.S.

A former employee of UMB Financial (UMBF) in Kansas City, Mo., has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $650,000 from the company.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week.