Banking

Financial institutions of all sizes are offering low- or zero-rate loans, waiving fees and making other arrangements to aid federal workers — a practice that regulators officially blessed on Friday, the 21st day of the closing of many U.S. agencies.

With government workers off the job, some credit union call centers are extra busy as worried members reach out with questions.

One bank's push to use Ripple's XRP in cross-border payments; LendUp spins off credit card business, names new CEO; a worrisome resurgence of rivalry among the banking agencies; and more from this week's most-read stories.

Intrepid Investment Bankers provides advice on M&A and capital markets activities.

The American Bankers Association has called for an end to the government shutdown, saying it has prevented customers from securing loans and threatens even more damage.

Robotic process automation is said to have a high return on investment, but adopting it on a large scale has proven challenging, especially at community banks.

Some big investors think the recent selloff in bank stocks is overdone; despite new ways to pay, credit cards still dominate.

As government employees carry on without pay, Cabrillo Credit Union and others must balance liquidity concerns with staying out of a political fight.

The information you need to start your day, from PaymentsSource and around the Web. Today: Ola, N26 pick up investments; TransferWise's Brexit hedge: WeChat cuts bike sharing service from wallet app.

Readers weigh in on pushback by appraisers to a new regulatory proposal, consider credit card issuers' role in the gun debate, respond to recent credit union mergers and more.

The North Carolina company agreed to pay $38 million in cash for First South Bancorp.

Shareholder approval, usually a formality, is far from guaranteed when an acquirer's share price is sliding.

Affirm, which for six years has plied its trade as a point-of-sale lender, wants to move deeper into banking by offering a high-rate savings account.

Nicolas Kopp, head of N26 in this country, explains how the company plans to spend a chunk of the proceeds on its expansion here and add to the intensifying competition among fintechs.

Silver River Community Bank is the fifth de novo in Florida to apply with the FDIC in the last three years.

The subprime online lender said Thursday that it will spin off its credit card business into a new entity, Mission Lane. It also named a new CEO to replace its founder, Sasha Orloff.

Associated Banc-Corp in Green Bay, Wis., said Wednesday that it will close 17 branches as part of a previously announced deal to buy 32 branches from Huntington Bancshares.

Global Payout is providing software to the makers of point of sale hardware for the cannabis industry, integrating payment card processing with other business services common for dispensaries.

Its data-driven financial management services for workers who live paycheck to paycheck — and a contract with Walmart — have attracted executives from Facebook, Slack and elsewhere as well as a major investment from the head of Box.

Last year Corporate Central returned more than $725,000 to its member credit unions, bringing the three-year total to $1.8 million.