Shares of Southcoast Financial (SOCB) surged more than 50% Thursday after the Mt. Pleasant, S.C., banking company reported its first quarterly profit in nearly two years.

Some bank customers increasingly turn to prepaid cards and other alternative financial services, which have both advantages and disadvantages over the traditional checking account. The Pew Charitable Trust's Financial Security Portfolio on Wednesday released findings from several focus groups held with prepaid card users late last year.

Consumers are stashing more money than ever into bank accounts but the surge of deposits is not translating into more fees for banks.

Jeff Gerhart, who took over as chairman of the Independent Community Bankers of America last month, also chairs a small bank in Nebraska. In a wide-ranging interview, the fourth-generation banker discusses competing against bigger banks and collaboration with the American Bankers Association.

Alliance Data Systems (ADS) has agreed to buy the existing private-label credit card portfolio of jewelry retailer Premier Designs.

NCAL Bancorp in Los Angeles and Raton Capital in New Mexico have been hit with enforcement orders from the Federal Reserve Board that require them to stabilize their ailing bank subsidiaries.

Pacific Capital's calculus was simple: Texas financier Gerald Ford, majority owner of the California bank, decided its shares would never trade as high as the price UnionBanCal was willing to pay.

C&F Financial (CFFI) in West Point, Va., has repurchased all the shares it issued to the Treasury Department in 2009 and now just needs to buy back its warrant to exit the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Banks are looking to move beyond traditional consumer rating methods. That puts FICO's new boss in a tight spot.

Consumer banking executive Laurie Readhead to take #2 technology spot, reporting to Catherine Bessant.

Commerce Bancshares posted record earnings in the first quarter as improved credit quality and strong revenue growth in its fee-based businesses more than offset flat loan growth.

Improved asset quality and declining expenses powered Washington Federal in Seattle to a $34 million profit in the quarter that ended March 31, a 32% increase from the same period in 2011.

A report from the Special Inspector General for Tarp said Treasury didn't do enough to facilitate participation in the Hardest Hit Fund, which has distributed just 3% of the funds available to struggling borrowers in the two years since it was created.

NBNK Investments PLC Thursday made a sweetened offer for 632 branches belonging to Lloyds Banking Group PLC, as the investment vehicle ups the ante on its bid to create a challenger bank in the U.K.

John Mack, who stepped down as Morgan Stanley CEO last year, has joined the board of Lending Club, an online lending platform.

AUSTIN, Texas – A+ FCU on Wednesday said it plans to open a third high school branch in central Texas in Hendrickson High School in Pflugerville, which will be open to the public, as well as nearby elementary and middle schools.

Force-placed insurance has been taking flak from regulators, plaintiff attorneys and consumer groups. Here's how the head of the American Bankers Association's insurance unit sums up the controversy and explains the business.

Bank of America Corp. is realigning its business divisions to reflect a renewed focus simplifying the bank and to better sell various products aimed at the same customers.

Hugh C. Lane Jr. has stepped down as president and chief executive at the Bank of South Carolina (BKSC) and has been replaced by his longtime associate, Fleetwood S. Hassell.

Women and minorities own nearly 30% of all the businesses in California but many can't get the bank loans they need to grow their firms. California Bank & Trust in San Diego is aiming to change that — and bolster its own loan portfolio — with a new multi-pronged lending initiative targeting female and minority entrepreneurs.