Raj Date, the former deputy director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, plans to work with banks to create cheaper short-term loans for cash-strapped customers, despite mounting regulatory scrutiny of the products.

A crackdown on payday lending looks increasingly likely and risks sending low-income consumers in search unregulated financing options on the Internet and abroad. That threat is a key topic of discussion at American Banker’s Underbanked Financial Services Forum, which wraps up Friday in Miami. National Editor Maria Aspan reports from the event.

Texas State Bankshares in Harlingen has agreed to buy Border Capital Group in McAllen in a merger of South Texas lenders.

Jean Smith, a local kid who grew up to run branches in the New York borough for JPMorgan Chase, has spent her retirement years teaching nonprofit BronxWorks how to tap private-sector funding.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. exercised its powers to appoint itself the receiver to circumvent a judge's ruling that barred Nevada regulators from closing a tiny bank belonging to Capitol Bancorp.

A draft of the bill from Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Mark Warner, D-Va., has begun circulating on Capitol Hill. The legislation would set up a new housing finance system and calls for the dissolution of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Banks are behind many of the faulty or nonexistent records that lead collections companies to erroneously demand debt repayments. That was a key message from regulators, consumer advocates and collections insiders at a Thursday panel.

Taylor Capital Group in Chicago has hired a new chief compliance officer for Cole Taylor Bank.

Waterstone Financial (WSBF) in Wauwatosa, Wis., is planning a second-step conversion.

The consumer agency has listened to agency concerns and issued reasonable, measured rules, but it still faces charges that it's unaccountable and out of control.

Visa CEO Charles Scharf spoke at length Thursday about repairing frayed ties with retailers, even as the decade-long war over interchange fees rages on.

Lowering overhead (relative to assets) would be a powerful motivator for a bank to get big, fast. But the savings just aren't there.

As the government banishes home loan products deemed unsuitable for most borrowers, why does it continue to backstop one that’s pitched to aging seniors – mainly by nonbank lenders?

Ed Hale, who retired as chairman and CEO of First Mariner in Baltimore more than a year ago, has invested in a local technology consulting firm called Think Systems.

Identity theft continues to be the highest ranking consumer complaint, according to the Federal Trade Commission. With this in mind, Zoot Enterprises recently discussed the prevalence of identity theft and fabricated identities with Dr. Stephen Coggeshall, chief technology officer at ID Analytics.

The Small Business Administration is making more money available for programs that encourage investment in early-stage companies and low-income communities.

The $42 million pact is the first of its kind to resolve complaints that a mortgage servicer treated foreclosed homes differently based on the racial composition of the neighborhood.

First PacTrust Bancorp in Irvine, Calif., is planning to raise more than $40 million through a sale of preferred shares.

The industry is up in arms over a proposal that would require banks to disclose in call reports specific sources of fee revenue. In question is whether the mandate would improve oversight of safety and soundness or instead is aimed at furthering the policy agenda of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and consumer advocates.

The fast-growing First Virginia Community Bank in Fairfax said Thursday that it sold more than 1.6 million shares at $13.50 each. It plans to use the money to support growth, among other things.