Retail & Commercial

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a contentious policy Thursday allowing customers to describe their banking experiences more fully on the agency's complaint portal.

If successful, Provident Bank in Massachusetts and Cincinnati Federal in Ohio would become the first new mutual holding companies since 2011, giving some hope that the structure could make a comeback.

Women bankers who want a family and a fulfilling career should focus on building a strong support system outside of work, or else opportunities will pass them by, according to panel of senior women executives at HSBC.

Banks charge merchants a quarter each time customers swipe their debit cards — even though the mean cost of processing debit-card purchases has fallen to 4.4 cents. The Federal Reserve should ensure that the falling cost of debit-card processing is matched by lower fees.

American Express Co., the lender that cut ties with one of its biggest retailer partners last month, agreed to a multiyear venture with Charles Schwab Corp. to create two co-branded credit cards.

Countries including Brazil, Nigeria, Malaysia and India have proved that there are viable ways to find alternatives to branches, use mobile devices to increase the reach of financial services and roll out government-supported financial inclusion projects.

Target agreed to settle with more than 100 million customers whose personal information may have been breached in a database hack in 2013, among the biggest to hobble retailers and banks in recent years.

Kevin Cummings, the New Jersey company's CEO, transformed Investors to sizable bank prior to its second-step conversion last May. With $2.2 billion in capital and an updated core system, Cummings has his sights on the company's next growth phase.

Four Oaks Bank in North Carolina has named Warren "Rocky" Herring its chief credit officer. Herring had held the same job at Premier Commercial Bank in Greensboro, N.C., before NewBridge Bancorp bought it last month.

Ocwen Financial has delayed filing its 2014 results and announced the sale of more servicing rights.