Retail & Commercial

American Express and Wal-Mart launched the Bluebird card last October. By January, it had over 575,000 account holders and $275 million in funds loaded onto the cards. Eighty-five percent of Bluebird customers are new to Amex, and 45% under 35.

HopFed is fighting back against claims by Joseph Stilwell that its CEO is overpaid.

A Congressional Budget Office report commissioned by Democrats concludes that principal reductions in modifications of loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would achieve more success if eligibility of the Home Affordable Modification Program were widened.

Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania (RBPAA) in Narbeth has ended a string of 18 straight quarterly losses.

Heartland will use Ingenico's software and experience with EMV-chip cards to help deliver new terminals and PIN pads in the U.S. as the country migrates to the EMV standard for payment cards.

The mortgage servicer Ocwen Financial (OCN) more than doubled its profit in the first quarter following a string of acquisitions that has substantially boosted its market share.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has accused 18 former officers and directors of the parent company of Midwest Bank with reckless practices that led to the Chicago-area bank's failure during the financial crisis.

MidSouth Bank of Tennessee recently deployed software to speed up the process for documenting and calculating the allowance for loan and lease losses.

A class-action lawsuit against the three major credit bureaus made headlines when a federal appeals court threw out a proposed settlement, but more noteworthy is that the suit itself led to major improvements in how they generate consumer credit reports.

American Banker Magazine Editor in Chief Heather Landy responds to the charges and examines the possible evidence of her own unconscious bias.