Retail & Commercial

A flurry of new mortgage rules are overwhelming home lenders — some they feel are too strict and others too ill-defined to decipher.

Two proxy advisory services have recommended against a proposal for Hampden Bancorp in Springfield, Mass., to explore a possible sale.

Fifth Third Bank in Cincinnati has added three veteran bankers to head a new unit that will focus on lending to the energy industry.

Isis, the mobile-wallet joint venture formed by AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA, launched its test today in Salt Lake City and Austin, Texas.

Sterling Financial in Spokane, Wash., is buying American Heritage Holdings, the holding company of Borrego Springs Bank in La Mesa, Calif., for $6.5 million in cash.

Higher noninterest expenses and lower net interest income drove down Bank of Hawaii's quarterly earnings.

Amex's Bluebird card account, exempt from Durbin and assertedly from bank regulation, is likely to generate high interchange. Consumers, banks and Amex won't pay for these checking accounts. Merchants (excepting Walmart) will.

Establishing contactless card payments in taxicabs in Barcelona, Spain provides another indication that La Caixa Bank intends to make the city a case study for new payment methods.

Fannie Mae and Ginnie Mae are seeking to protect taxpayers as a flood of new lenders apply to do business with them. That's also helping big banks' profit and blunting Federal Reserve efforts to boost housing.

Three banks failed Friday – including two in Florida – and will cost the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. an estimated $86 million. Regulators seized the $200 million-asset Excel Bank in Sedalia, Mo.; the $159 million-asset GulfSouth Private Bank in Destin, Fla.; and the $67 million-asset First East Side Savings Bank in Tamarac, Fla.