Retail & Commercial

A dissident investor's candidate has joined the board at First Financial Northwest (FFNW) in Renton, Wash., ending a costly legal dispute.

The biggest challenge facing bankers these days is not regulation or economic sluggishness. It's figuring out how to charge for products and services that bank customers have grown to expect for free, says PNC's CEO-in-waiting William Demchak.

Starbuck Bancshares has sweetened the consideration it will pay for PremierWest Bancorp (PRWT) in Medford, Ore.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has terminated a consent order issued to Saehan Bank (SAEB) in Los Angeles.

First Citizens BancShares (FCNCA) in Raleigh, N.C., is preparing to spend millions of dollars to improve its information technology platform.

Apple's Passbook wallet is a blank canvas for developers of mobile payment apps. Some Passbook apps take a conventional approach to payments, and others put a more imaginative spin on what a mobile wallet can be.

Landmark Credit Union may buy Hartford Savings Bank in Wisconsin, the National Credit Union Administration board decided Thursday.

Top bankers went out of their way to praise the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and its Director, Richard Cordray, at American Banker's Retail Financial Services Conference. Despite the happy talk, they stopped short of calling for the GOP to end its opposition to the bureau or for Cordray's directorship to be made permanent.

The longtime chief executive of New Hampshire Thrift Bancshares is ready to retire — but not to leave completely. Stephen Ensign, 65, is set to retire April 30 as an employee of the Newport company but will remain its chairman.

The Fed's rejection of BB&T's capital plan likely bars the serial acquirer from big acquisitions for several months, but it might be able to pull off a small one.