Community banks should let big banks take the lead on technology R&D, learn to quickly copy the best of what they come up with and outdo them on customer service, say executives of Rockville Bank, including its new virtual banking chief, Donna Patel.

If regulators want to limit the damage in Main Street communities, they should completely exempt Trups CDOs from the Volcker Rule. This would avoid needless writedowns without putting Main Street communities at financial risk.

JPMorgan Chase is making birthday wishes a high-tech art form for its customers.

Big banks have gotten an unfair rap and regulators an unjustified free pass since the financial crisis -- so argues longtime banking industry analyst Richard X. Bove in a new book. The outspoken Bove, now with Rafferty Capital Equity Research, tells American Banker why he believes the Dodd-Frank Act was unnecessary and federal regulators to blame for failing to prevent the crisis.

The Dodd-Frank Act and other financial regulations enacted in the wake of the financial crisis have made banking a "worse place" by adding unwieldy and unnecessary restrictions on big banks, says Dick Bove. The longtime bank analyst also points a finger at regulators for failing to adequately enforce existing regulations in the lead-up to the crisis, a point he discusses at length, while defending big banks, in a new book.

The New York company believes that "delighting customers" with an electronic birthday greeting will translate into more business, says its executive in charge of consumer and community banking.

Neighborhood National Bank in San Diego has named a former leader of Regents Bank as its president and chief executive.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) is seeking a buyer for its corporate payroll, tax refund and health-savings prepaid card business.

Visa and MasterCard have little real interest in implementing effective security because they don’t absorb fraud losses.

In an attempt to expand business in the Boston area, People's United Bank has hired a Boston-based senior vice president away from Citigroup (NYSE: C).

Coastway Bancorp in Cranston, R.I., is planning to raise roughly $48.3 million in its conversion to a 100% stock-owned company.

Banco Santander SA's U.S. consumer lender subsidiary, which originates subprime loans for new- vehicle purchases and leases, is seeking to raise as much as $1.56 billion in an initial public offering.

Zombie companies have survived on the loose monetary policy of the past few years, designed to help at-risk businesses stay afloat and keep people employed in the wake of the financial crisis. But forthcoming changes will make it hard for these firms to repay their debt.

Gains in student and auto loans fueled an increase in consumer borrowing in November, according to the latest Federal Reserve G.19 report.

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson sued collection agency Bradstreet and Associates on Wednesday for charging steep interest rates on overdrawn checking accounts at two big banks.

BancorpSouth (BXS) in Tupelo, Miss., has agreed to buy Ouachita Bancshares in Monroe, La.

During the third quarter of 2013, a composite ratio of consumer delinquencies tracked by the American Bankers Association fell to a record low of 1.63%, the trade group said Thursday.

Southern National Bancorp of Virginia (SONA) in McLean has agreed to buy Prince George's Federal Savings Bank in Upper Marlboro, Md.

BBVA Compass is cutting between 400 and 600 jobs in its banking and real-estate-lending divisions.

JPMorgan Chase promoted longtime spokeswoman Kristin Lemkau to become its new chief marketing officer this week. Lemkau seeks to offset the bank's bad press, figure out a better digital-marketing strategy and improve its social-media presence after the #AskJPM Twitter debacle, she says in an interview.