Retail & Commercial

The National Fair Housing Alliance is accelerating efforts to force mortgage lenders, servicers and trustees to do a better job of maintaining foreclosed properties in minority neighborhoods.

The online business lender OnDeck has partnered with ProfitStars to help provide credit to small businesses that may not qualify for loans from banks or credit unions.

After pressure from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said she agreed with a proposal to require the central bank's board to vote on significant enforcement actions.

Banks and other financial institutions can minimize their losses on checking accounts by limiting the kinds that they offer, according to a new report from economic research firm Moebs Services.

The company lowered its forecast for credit card losses Thursday, but also acknowledged weaknesses in some of its smaller business lines such as mortgages and U.S. debit cards.

Credit unions' tax exemption looks safe again this year on Capitol Hill, but that didn't stop the American Bankers Association from mounting an intense advertising and lobbying attack that also served as rallying cry for the Credit Union National Association.

Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen said today that the central bank does not have the power to supervise Bitcoin, the most widely-recognized digital currency.

Executives at Webster Financial, Independent Bank and People's United agree that their retail operations have to change -- but the consensus stops there. Some are adding branches, some are cutting them, and they are all using new technologies in different ways.

The Royal Canadian Mint, which casts coins for the Canadian federal government, has started a pilot test of its MintChip digital currency. Through these tests, the Mint must make clear what this new currency is and what it is not.

Debt collection ranks second in the Federal Trade Commission's annual list of consumer complaints, according to the report released Thursday.