Retail & Commercial

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's proposal to limit the use of arbitration clauses came under attack Wednesday for potentially raising costs and liability for financial firms.

Simmons First National in Pine Bluff, Ark., has agreed to buy Citizens National Bancorp in Athens, Tenn.

Banks have stumbled in their forays with wearable technology. Now the leading maker of personal fitness trackers plans to add contactless payment capabilities to the devices.

Gerard Champi is getting a vowel upgrade. He will be promoted to CEO from COO of First National Community Bancorp in Dunmore, Pa., this summer, according to a company news release.

A study commissioned by the Massachusetts Bankers Association found a correlation between a spike in credit unions with low-income designations and an increase in member business lending in the state.

New York's bank regulator is investigating LendingClub Corp. over loans issued to consumers and its relationships with financial institutions, saddling the embattled company with another probe after its chief executive was forced to resign earlier this month.

Banks are trying to upgrade tech offerings, from mobile banking to bill pay. But that's easier said than done, in part because the biggest core processors use their dominant market share to restrict access to banks' networks. They do this, in part, because they offer their own competing tech products.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's proposal to restrict the use of arbitration clauses would allow it to seize enormous amounts of data from financial firms that could lead to more enforcement actions, according to industry lawyers.

Data through April released by S&P Dow Jones Indices and Experian shows a consumer credit default composite rate of 0.86% in April, down seven basis points from March.

Louise Walker, the head of First Northern Bank in Dixon, Calif., will be wearing an additional hat over the next year — chair of the California Bankers Association.