Retail & Commercial

Two car title lenders settled Federal Trade Commission charges requiring them to stop using deceptive advertising to market title loans. The complaints mark the first time the FTC has taken action against car title lenders.

Two Republican legislators have suggested that affordable housing funding should be put on hold until Congress finally decides what to do about Fannie and Freddie. But why give Congress another six years to fiddle around with housing finance while the poor and homeless face a declining level of government housing assistance?

Community & Southern Holdings in Atlanta has agreed to buy Community Business Bank in Cumming, Ga.

MasterCard Inc., the second-largest U.S. payments network, posted fourth-quarter profit that beat analysts' estimates as customer spending climbed.

The ability of Somali-Americans to send cash home to their relatives is again in peril after a California bank decided to stop facilitating the money transfers, according to a foreign aid organization that has been monitoring the situation.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday proposed a series of regulatory relief measures for small institutions, especially those in rural areas, to help them provide credit while they try to follow the agency's tough mortgage rules.

Federal Reserve officials suggested that anonymous payments and the technologies powering digital currencies could inform broader plans for reshaping the U.S. payment system.

TCF Financial took $44 million in charges to rid itself of mortgages made before the housing collapse. A distressed-asset investor purchased more than $400 million in loans from the company, and another pool of bad mortgages may be marked for sale soon.

In yet another revision of its mortgage rules, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed making it easier for small and rural lenders to make "qualified mortgages." Industry representatives said the changes are poised to make a big difference.

Visa, the world's largest payments network, posted fiscal first-quarter profit that beat analysts' estimates as card spending increased. The company announced a 4-for-1 stock split.