Retail & Commercial

With more than 1,300 U.S. branches and a Canadian parent company, TD Bank hardly qualifies as a community bank. But the institution is trying to underscore its local-bank bona fides with marketing campaigns touting its support of neighborhood causes.

A growing number of banks employ chief marketing officers who manage multimillion-dollar budgets and are involved in high-level corporate decision-making. The pressure's on to come up with creative ways to differentiate their brands and connect with customers.

Aside from shoestring budgets, the biggest problem for many community banks is that their marketing programs have gone stale, experts say. For too many, marketing remains bounded by three time-worn pillars: advertising, direct mail and public relations.

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The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has fined Bank of America $30 million for allegedly violating consumer protection rights of U.S. military service members while collecting debts.

Former Wells Fargo Chief Executive Richard Kovacevich on Friday said that "regulation is killing small banks."

A specialized Wells Fargo branch in Des Moines and the nonprofit Digital Finance Institute are part of a small but growing movement to improve access to financial services for emigres who have escaped war or persecution.

While other banks build fancy modern skyscrapers or look to shrink the size of their branches, Dollar Bank in Pittsburgh has poured its resources into restoring a 144-year-old building downtown. The bank says the building's fame gives it a marketing edge.

American Express Co. President Ed Gilligan died Friday morning after becoming ill on a flight to New York.

In the second part of a three-part conversation, CommonBond Chief Executive David Klein weighs the competing goals of gaining market share and posting a profit in the nascent marketplace lending industry.