An estimated 650,000 consumers have closed their bank accounts and opted for credit union membership over the past four weeks, according to CUNA, bringing the approach to Saturday's Bank Transfer Day to a crescendo.

Freddie Mac posted a $4.4 billion loss during the third quarter, up from a year-ago loss of $2.5 billion, marking its worst quarterly loss in more than one year.

TUCSON, Ariz. – Vantage West CU has upgraded its 34 ATMs with Diebold technology, adding deposit automation to 11 of them.

Community Bancorp LLC in Houston said Wednesday that it will change its name to Cadence Bancorp LLC next week.

IMGCAP(1)]

The U.S. homeownership rate in the third quarter was at the second lowest level in more than a decade as borrowers were evicted after foreclosures and the tightest mortgage standards in more than a decade thwarted new buyers.

The refinance boom of the third quarter both helped and hurt results at PHH Corp. of Mount Laurel, N.J.

Credit quality may have stabilized, but banks are boosting reserves after signaling plans to lower them. Concerns over the economy, growth plans and regulatory intervention all seem to be playing a role in the reversals.

MasterCard is short on details for plans to beef up share in the debit card space on its third-quarter earnings call with analysts. The network posted strong earnings and revenue gains despite a sluggish economy.

Raj Date, the interim head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, faced pointed questions and criticisms from Republicans in his first appearance before Congress since taking over for Elizabeth Warren last August.

The Johnson family, which also controls S.C. Johnson & Son Inc., pumped $235 million into Johnson Financial after efforts to bring in outside funds were unsuccessful.

Bank technology provider Fiserv has positioned itself for a wave of growth in electronic payments. It expects its recently purchased CashEdge and related business lines to balloon in the coming years.

American Express said it will provide prepaid campus ID cards to University of North Florida students. The product is Amex's first prepaid campus ID Card.

The FDIC tries to stay clear of being the agency that closes a bank's doors. But working behind the scenes to guard its insurance fund, the agency is often significantly involved in the decision of when to fail an institution.

The industry needs to find its way to a future in which the president isn't complaining and the Wall Street occupiers go home and disenchanted customers are content.

While saving money and paying debts can be its own reward, Bank of the West is taking the added step of offering potential prizes to consumers who reduce outstanding credit or boost savings.

Banks and financial institutions have been sitting on vast amounts of customer transaction data for several decades now. The hardware and software technologies to make sense of this vast storehouse of data have been available for at least a decade now. Meanwhile the appetite for insightful data to help marketers target customers online has grown enormously, as has users' disdain for untargeted advertising.

Citing steady international growth and earnings from increased debit network fees, First Data delivered a 3.8% increase in third-quarter consolidated revenue.

Citing higher purchase volumes for credit and debit cards in all regions, MasterCard Inc. earned net income of $717 million for the third quarter, up 38.4% from $518 million a year earlier.

Ally Financial Inc. swung to a loss in the third quarter, snapping a six-quarter streak of profits, as the government-controlled auto lender reported continued struggles in its mortgage operations.