Retail & Commercial

Fulton Financial (FULT) in Lancaster, Pa., has added its name to the growing list of banks closing branches to cut costs.

Executives at Lead Bank in Garden City, Mo., are hopeful that offering small businesses more high-touch services, such as consulting, will provide an advantage in an area that has become fiercely competitive.

CenterState Banks (CSFL) in Davenport, Fla., plans to close 13% of its branches and fire 57 employees.

New auto loans climbed to an eight-year high in the first 10 months of 2013, according to the latest National Consumer Credit Trends Report from Equifax.

Community banks originated about 60% of the $1.5 billion of loans issued through the State Small Business Credit Initiative, a program created as part of the 2010 Jobs Act.

Kitsap Bank in Port Orchard, Wash., has hired a chief financial officer.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. filed a lawsuit Friday in U.S. District Court in Colorado against nine former executives and directors at United Western Bank, which failed in 2011.

Something resembling deposit insurance for virtual currencies may still be in the distant future. But a growing array of startups is attempting to offer Bitcoin users a similar layer of security to that enjoyed by bank depositors.

The next decade should be a payments-industry renaissance, but thanks to established market shares and persistent consumer and merchant habits, familiar names will remain at the core.

The $5.6 billion-asset company’s fourth-quarter earnings rose 29% from a year earlier, to $15.3 million.