Retail & Commercial

A housing report released Thursday shows that buying a home was at the most affordable level in two years in the first quarter, despite the average home price increasing at more than twice the pace of the average weekly wage nationwide.

Outdated and inefficient processes come at the cost of face time with customers and weigh banks down with unnecessary expenses. Here are some of the most common problems faced by the industry and ideas about how to fix them.

The FTC's second Debt Collection Dialogue event focused on regulatory compliance and the complexities of the current collections climate.

JPMorgan Chase has paid off $3.56 billion of the $4 billion it owes in consumer relief credit as part of a 2013 settlement over marred mortgage-backed securities issued before the crisis.

Town and Country Financial in Springfield, Ill., has agreed to buy the parent of Premier Bank of Jacksonville in Illinois.

Community West Bancshares in Goleta, Calif., has received regulatory approval to exit the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

A handful of moderate Democrats supported a controversial bill to restructure the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, helping the House Financial Services Committee approve the legislation.

First Data, the payments processor taken private by KKR & Co. eight years ago, is seeking to raise as much as $3.2 billion in what’s poised to be the biggest U.S. initial public offering this year.

Ameris Bancorp in Moultrie, Ga., has agreed to buy Jacksonville Bancorp in Florida.

Pacific Premier Bancorp in Irvine, Calif., has agreed to buy Security California Bancorp in Riverside, Calif.