Retail & Commercial

Clifton Bancorp in Clifton, N.J., said Friday that it has hired the former chief executive of a nearby rival as chief operating officer.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has amassed more than $300 million in so-called "unobligated balances" in its civil penalty fund, driven by a bumper crop of penalties against financial institutions in the past year. Some are questioning why the balances remain so large, year after year.

Banc of California in Irvine has promoted a back-office executive to become chief administrative officer.

Add U.S. Bank to the list of companies allowing its customers to access its mobile app through their thumbprint.

Poplar Bluff, Mo. city officials are looking into hiring a collection agency to pursue more than $200,000 in debt owed by a former internet provider.

What makes a true leader is particularly relevant to the banking industry, in which the leading institutions and key individuals are not always defined by asset size.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and our social media platforms.

Two large national groups want a federal court to force the Department of Education to release documents showing how it oversees private collection agencies and collects student loan debt.

The former head of the FDIC has a longstanding interest in small-dollar consumer lending.

Banking activity snapped back into expansion mode in February according to the latest reading in the Index of Banking Activity. The upturn was driven primarily by significant momentum in the Northeast and Midwest regions and contrasted strongly with a particularly weak reading in January. In the latest month, index components that track loan application and approval activity turned positive for both the consumer and commercial sides of the business. Survey respondents also were mostly positive on questions related to credit quality, with sentiment on delinquencies improving in several regions. Despite the upturn for the loan-origination indicators, there was no evidence of increased momentum in the component that monitors loan balances outstanding. But this seems to have stemmed from a positive development as well, as several respondents noted that February saw customers pay down loan balances and, in one respondent's case, the payoff activity cleared up loans that had been viewed as problematic in January. One common theme across the respondent pool was that competition had intensified significantly for new commercial loan business, resulting in a tougher pricing environment in several regions.

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