Retail & Commercial

Two small U.S. banks will begin offering an alternative remittance option. The development may signal a new era of competition in foreign exchange, but some critics see danger.

The powerful, well-tuned U.S. economy is picking up speed rapidly, with much of the power under our hood yet to be fully engaged, according to the latest report on small business credit trends from Experian and Moody's Analytics. The road to a full recovery, however, remains long.

A high percentage of Federal Housing Administration-insured loans are falling into the "higher priced" bucket due to a series of mortgage insurance hikes over the past several years.

Urban Partnership Bank in Chicago has lured a former Citibank executive out of retirement to lead its consumer banking operations.

More than half of B2B receivables 90 days or more overdue were written off in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Brazil, according to a survey.

First Connecticut Bancorp in Farmington is expanding into Massachusetts.

NewBridge Bancorp in Greensboro, N.C., has created three commercial banking groups.

Hawaii National Bancshares in Honolulu is planning to buy out the holdings of its minority shareholders.

In the coming months, banks, mortgage lenders, consumer advocates and policy wonks will be slicing and dicing the latest Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data, as they do every year. Rarely, if ever, have the stakes been higher.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) reached a deal with prepaid-card firm Green Dot Corp. (GDOT) to offer checking accounts to the retailer's customers, building on an expansion into financial services that U.S. banks have sought to block.