Retail & Commercial

Officials with St. Helens Community Federal Credit Union in Oregon and nearby Wauna Federal Credit Union said they plan to merge to create a credit union with about $300 million in assets.

Four New York thrifts — Dime Savings, CMS, NorthEast Community and Fairport Savings — received approval Monday to switch from federal to state charters, adding to a growing list of converts nationwide.

PSCU Financial Services, a service organization that provides products and services to its roughly 1,500 member credit unions, announced Monday that it will begin issuing prepaid chip cards for several of its clients this summer.

EverBank this week was the latest buyer to take advantage of the ripening market for books of commercial and other types of credits. Wells Fargo, City National and others have announced similar moves.

KeyBank has built a low-dollar consumer lending product that makes money and pleases consumer advocates.

Lender Processing Services (LPS) has agreed to acquire LendingSpace, a provider of mortgage loan origination software.

Global Payments is offering Planet Payment's Pay in Your Currency technology to merchants in Canada. Global Payments plans to offer a similar service in the U.S. later this summer.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency provided an update Tuesday to its pilot program designed to turn foreclosed properties into rental homes, saying it had announced the first round of winning bidders.

Solera National Bank in Lakewood, Colo., has been freed from a consent order under which it had been operating for more than two years.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners will hold a hearing on possible abuses in August. Yet a key regulator doubts the industry is seriously troubled.