Banking

There are more than 43 million student loan borrowers in the U.S., owing nearly $1.3 trillion dollars of debt. The National Foundation for Credit Counseling believes those numbers make it a hotbed for debt relief scams and NFCC officials are warning student borrowers about falling victim.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco is exploring ways to use $40 million it received as part of a private-label securities settlement to support small-business development and job creation to help future homebuyers.

United Security Bancshares in Thomasville, Ala., has agreed to buy a three-acre parcel near Birmingham, Ala., for a new executive office and retail branch.

Activists typically improve a company's stock performance — and can produce "dramatic, excess returns" when they have specific demands, says Josh Hinkel, a partner with Bain & Co.

The fight over the security protections on the San Bernardino, Calif., iPhone is about more than a single device or Apple's product line.

Ray Grace, North Carolina's banking commissioner, believes federal bank regulators should embrace charters for banks dedicated to innovation. Doing so, he said, would help the banking industry secure its spot as a "laboratory for change."

West York Borough, in York, Pa., is owed an estimated $500,000 as a result of delinquent residential sewer accounts, borough officials reported.

Traditional financial institutions are often seen as the outdated rival to new disruptors, but the idea that a bank can't be a marketplace lender, and vice versa, is a myth.

For financial institutions, there are scary parallels between the IRS' failure to protect sensitive personal information and their own such struggles.

For financial institutions, there are scary parallels between the IRS' failure to protect sensitive personal information and their own such struggles.

Midland Financial in Oklahoma City has agreed to buy 1st Century Bancshares in Los Angeles.

Horizon Bancorp in Michigan City, Ind., has agreed to buy LaPorte Bancorp in LaPorte, Ind.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and our social media platforms.

Huntington Bancshares plans to close more than 100 branches in Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin after it completes its acquisition of FirstMerit.

State Street in Boston is on the hunt for a new chief financial officer. Michael Bell, 52, has decided to step down within the next year the custody bank said on Thursday.

Startups, including one in the virtual currency field, have approached the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency about applying for banking charters, the agency's chief counsel said Thursday.

Richard Meares, the president and chief executive of Fleetwood Bank in Berks County, Pa., is retiring in January.

Norwood Financial in Honesdale, Pa., has agreed to buy Delaware Bancshares in Walton, N.Y.

As the Central Bank of Bangladesh threatens to sue the Federal Reserve Bank of New York over at least $80 million stolen from its account there, the Fed says its systems were not compromised.

There are a lot of things banks can — and must — do to guard against the oldest trick in the cybercriminal book: deceptive emails. Don't laugh: The crooks are getting smarter, but many executives, employees and customers aren't.