Banco Popular de Puerto Rico

Banks have been successful at beating back legal challenges to credit card payment protection plans. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau could change that.

Social networking giant Facebook is already a half-billion dollar payment company. For banks, that presents threats and opportunities.

The mortgage settlement was a political coup for President Obama and state attorneys general. For banks, it was merely the latest turn in a long and winding effort to put housing problems behind them.

President Obama announced Monday a doubling of a proposed tax on big banks to $61 billion. For the White House, the political appeal is obvious but the proposal itself appears highly unlikely to ever become law.

The San Antonio, Texas bank blasted excessive federal regulation in announcing it will replace its federal charter with a state one.

The Federal Reserve approved Capital One's acquisition of ING Direct late Tuesday with few strings attached. The decision had big banks and dealmakers breathing a sigh of relive and consumer advocates steaming.

The Internet search giant suffered a serious setback that adds more uncertainty to the future of digital payments.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's plan to begin supervising debt collectors and credit reporting firms could prove troublesome to banks.

Some small banks fear expiration of FDIC loan guarantees will cost them deposits. Others say the Transaction Account Guarantee program has served its purpose and should go away.

For banks, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's plans to take a close look at checking account overdraft fees puts a multi-billion dollar source of revenue at risk.