After six years of declines, lending for so-called Helocs will rise 30 percent to $79.6 billion in 2012, the highest level since the start of the financial crisis in 2008, according to the economics research unit of Moody's Corp.

On January 7, 2013, the IRS will begin accepting electronically-signed income verification forms that are part of the processing of almost every mortgage and loan modification.

Community banks in energy-rich North Dakota are having to get regulators' approval to buy houses for their employees, who can no longer afford to live there.

A series of lawsuits that charge some of the nation's biggest banks with misleading investors in connection with the sale of hundreds of billions of dollars of mortgage-backed securities may come down to a question of timing.

Southside Bancshares (SBSI) in Tyler, Texas, will open two branches in Austin, Texas, next year.

JPMorgan Chase plans to offer instantly issued debit cards in 2,000 branches, primarily in in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, by the end of the year.

Small banks have long seemed best able to cultivate small-business customers because they could offer a more personal touch, and now big banks are increasingly trying to replicate their success.

Bankers should be a resource for their communities beyond making loans and sponsoring little league teams. Here are a few fresh ways to get involved.

M&T Bank is letting customers put a photo of their own (or one from the bank's gallery) on their check card, for $7.95.

Neil W. Brown, the chief risk officer at TCF Financial, has resigned from the Wayzata, Minn., company.

Bruce Lee will step down as its chief credit officer for Fifth Third Bank (FITB) in Cincinnati, for personal reasons, at the end of the year, the $117 billion-asset company said Monday.

BancorpSouth in Tupelo, Miss., will have a new chief executive for the first time in nearly 22 years, with James D. "Dan" Rollins 3rd succeeding Aubrey Patterson.

To prove and defend their capital adequacy, community banks must focus on linking the results of stress testing to the core principles that underlie Basel III's stand-alone ratios.

Suit aims to block the Commerce Bank founder and CEO from selling his book on how to "WOW" customers.

Banner Corp. (BANR) in Walla Walla, Wash., will buy back preferred shares from investors who purchased them from the Treasury Department in March.

Nancy Sheppard, who plans to retire next year as CEO of the Western Independent Bankers, wisely pushed the group out of lobbying and into executive training, bankers say.

The $8 billion-asset subsidiary of Northwest Bancshares (NWBI) said Wednesday it would buy The Bert Company, which operates an employee benefits and property and casualty insurance firm known as The Bert Insurance Group, based in Erie, Pa.

FNB United (FNBN) in Asheboro, N.C., narrowed its loss in the third quarter as it continued to unload problem assets.

First State Community Bank in Farmington, Mo., which has done several M&A deals in recent years, benefits again as B of A and smaller banks look to streamline their operations.

Willing sellers have pretty much replaced failed banks among targets with less than $1 billion of assets. Volume has perked up in other size classes simultaneously.