Banking

Credit scores are useful in predicting the likelihood of whether someone will repay a loan. However, banks and others need to provide customers with another number that more accurately assesses their financial health.

The credit card industry's switch to microchips has improved security, but fraudulent online purchases remain a big vulnerability. A new credit card company called Final, which launches Wednesday, is aiming to fix that problem.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in Toronto has agreed to buy PrivateBancorp in Chicago for $3.8 billion, finally giving the Canadian bank a meaningful retail presence in the United States.

First Midwest Bancorp in Itasca, Ill., has agreed to buy Standard Bancshares in Hickory Hills, Ill.

The U.S. Supreme Court in its upcoming term will hear a fight over automated-teller-machine fees that pits the interests of independent cash machine operators and consumers on one hand against two major card networks and several megabanks on the other.

Seven weeks into a crisis precipitated by the ouster of the company's longtime CEO, the embattled marketplace lender is trying to convince shareholders that it is turning a corner.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Home Loan banks of Topeka and San Francisco have signed up to participate in a Mortgage Partnership Finance program that pools and securitizes government-backed loans via Ginnie Mae.

The question of whether bitcoin is actually money is at the heart of a case of a man charged with selling $30,000 worth of the virtual currency to an undercover police officer.

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal by Wells Fargo and Bank of America in a lawsuit brought by the city of Miami to determine whether the city can seek redress for lost tax revenue from predatory mortgages.

WaterStone Financial in Wauwatosa, Wis., has promoted from within to fill its chief financial officer role.

Amegy Bank of Texas in Houston has promoted Laif Afseth from executive director of commercial and industrial lending to president of the company.

Chief Technology Officer David Reilly has had to make major reductions in traditional expenses so Bank of America can afford to collaborate with fintech firms that are developing innovative products the bank craves.

Two Democratic Senate Banking Committee members have asked Walmart, Green Dot, and MasterCard to explain an outage in which Walmart MoneyCard users were blocked from accessing their funds.

Marketplace lenders have been declaring "FICO-free Zones" and playing down the need for the longstanding measure of creditworthiness. FICO CEO Will Lansing explains how the company's score is evolving and why he believes FICO remains the best (not necessarily the only) way to determine ability to repay a loan.

Dollar Bank in Pittsburgh has agreed to buy Bank @lantec in Virginia Beach.

Bankers, fintech entrepreneurs, regulators and other financial services players gathered in New Orleans last week to discuss the future of the industry at American Banker's Digital Banking 2016 conference. Here are some of the highlights of the conference. For more, check out the hashtag #digibank16 on Twitter.

LendingClub Corp. named Scott Sanborn to replace its founder and chief executive officer, who resigned unexpectedly last month, and said it will dismiss 179 employees to cope with the decline in loan volume caused by the turmoil.

Federal regulations — including the FFIEC's recent mobile security guidelines — have not kept pace with mobile innovation and the security risks users face from smartphone banking platforms.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday allowed a class-action lawsuit against Encore Capital Group Inc. to proceed, declining to hear the debt-buying giant's claim that such companies should be protected from state laws barring money-lending at unreasonably high interest rates.

Synovus Financial struggled along with its customers during the financial crisis. Now that it's healthy again, it credits the strong ties it built with those customers, and the involvement of its executives in the communities they serve, with helping restore its status as one of banking's most reputable brands.