Every year, despite the risks and high costs, millions of Americans turn to payday loans for emergency funds. To date, a top-down, regulatory approach has been the primary means of addressing the downsides of the payday lending industry. To improve protection of consumers and encourage this industry to mature, such regulation should be joined by efforts that encourage market transparency.

The U.S. mortgage delinquency rate declined in the first quarter to the lowest level since 2008 as an improving job market helped more borrowers pay their bills and tighter lending standards resulted in fewer defaults, according to a report Wednesday from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

MetroCorp Bancshares Inc.'s (MCBI) public offering of 4.45 million common shares priced at a 7.4% discount to Wednesday's close.

HSBC Holdings PLC said Thursday that it was on track to hit its 2013 profitability goals as the bank completes the first leg of its three-year quest to cut costs and boost revenues.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – CommonWealth One FCU announced the installation of a new ATM at Costco Wholesale in Harrisonburg, Va.

Demand for bank stocks is up this year, but Wall Street is showing reluctance to fund a certain kind of lender: Community banks with dim prospects for making acquisitions. MetroCorp Bancshares of Houston, First Community of Lexington, S.C., and Northeast Bancorp of Lewiston, Maine all find themselves in this situation.

The former chief financial officer of the failed Tennessee Commerce Bank has taken the same role at First Financial Service Corporation, a struggling Kentucky bank.

Just weeks after Capital One Financial (COF) said it was cutting 500 assistant manager jobs at its branches, FirstMerit (FMER) in Akron, Ohio, announced this week that it would eliminate all assistant branch manager jobs as part of a broad cost-cutting initiative.

Activist investor Joseph Stilwell is not winning much outside support in his bid to force changes at First Financial Northwest (FFNW) in Renton, Wash.

Still unable to wire their money to family back home, many Somali-Americans in Minnesota recently lined up to withdraw their deposits from U.S. Bancorp (USB) and Wells Fargo (WFC) or have vowed to do so soon.

CFS II, a Tulsa, Okla.-based debt collection agency, is scouting offices in North Carolina to potentially open a call center with as many as 2,000 jobs, according to company officials.

A month after expanding into Connecticut with its acquisition of a Hartford bank, Berkshire Hills Bancorp (BHLB) in Pittsfield, Mass., has added one of the state's most famous citizens to its board of directors.

I was surprised and disappointed by Jim Well's BankThink piece"Are Small Banks Big Banks' Pawns in Assault on Dodd-Frank?". As chair of the American Bankers Association's Community Bankers Council, I have the honor and responsibility of being a spokesperson for the community banking industry. I take this job seriously, and took great care to report on the growing regulatory burden that is suffocating our nation's small — but vital — financial institutions.

Cardlytics announced Wednesday that the company, which provides targeted offers to debit-card users, is offering a similar technology designed for credit card portfolios.

On YouTube, puppet shows are fine for consumers, but to appeal to businesses many banks are taking a more serious tone — and putting their own clients in the spotlight.

On Tuesday, Wells Fargo took its shot at overturning a landmark 2010 district court judgment against its overdraft fees and practices.

Possible violations of state and federal laws could jeopardize Costco's mortgage partnership program with several small banks. Some lawyers believe Costco should become a registered mortgage broker to comply with existing regulations.

Bankers are facing "rodeos" and "knife fights" as they try to strike gold again in payments.

Central Bank in Stillwater, Minn., is buying another distressed bank. It has a deal to buy the struggling Bank of Naples in Florida.

Jumio has released a software development kit to allow programmers to use its credit card scanning technology in mobile apps.