Banks are increasingly using mobile devices as an added layer of authentication for online banking, but messages sent to a phone can be intercepted. A security method developed in South Africa may close that security hole.

Ecommerce software company Rearden Commerce has raised $133 million in new funding from investors Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and American Express Co.

State Street Corp. has agreed to purchase a Boston brokerage firm, Pulse Trading Inc.

Consumers are sharing more personal information online than ever — but they don't want to share it with banks. A few companies are trying to find a middle ground, helping consumers connect to lenders without exposing even basic contact information until absolutely necessary.

Home sales in California, the most populous U.S. state, are likely to rise 1% in 2012 after being "essentially flat" this year, the California Association of Realtors forecast Tuesday.

Builders began work on fewer U.S. homes than forecast in August, showing the industry remains flat on its back even as mortgage rates fall to record lows.

The specter of "too big to fail," coupled with the usual fuming by community groups over Capital One's CRA record, made for a dramatic nine hours — and counting.

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American Express has purchased Sometrics, a company that facilitates payments within electronic games using virtual currency, in a deal worth $30 million, the company confirmed Tuesday.

Wintrust Financial in Illinois is tired of hiding behind numerous brand names. The $15 billion-asset company has launched an advertising campaign to aggressively introduce the Wintrust brand in Chicago.

An ideological divide in the party has prevented a resolution to the GSE problem, the West Virginia Republican said. More help will be needed from the White House, too, she said.

The Florida appeals court ruling could make it harder for mortgage servicers to use such records as evidence for foreclosure without verifying the underlying information.

The biggest bank in Hawaii is set to have a new chief executive.

Series of bad events led to Seattle banks sale to AmericanWest. Being small did not help things.

Forget Dodd-Frank. Never mind unemployment. Want to jumpstart lending? Fix the system for classifying loans, Harris Simmons says.

Create a national charter for nonbanks so they don't have to go through banks to offer products to underserved consumers.

A group of bankers have banded together to buy First National Bank of Chillicothe in Texas and will use it to open a branch just outside of Dallas.

Big bank deals will worsen systemic risks and unfair competition, said the ICBA, which called for a moratorium while new regulations are in the works. Capital One argued the deal would create a safer company.

The Massachusetts Democrat said housing advocates' fight against a key reform of Dodd-Frank would hurt the low-income borrowers they are trying to help.

Smaller banks have systems work to do, and a company called WebEquity is trying to fill in the niche. Upgrading to a unified system helps prevent inadvertent discrimination and stop making lending decisions based on excel spreadsheets.