Banking

Bank Leumi's conservatism helped it stay profitable during the financial crisis. The bank, a unit of Leumi Group in Israel, is ready to get more aggressive in areas such as technology lending.

Royal Banks of Missouri in University City has agreed to buy Frontenac Bank in Earth City, Mo.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina in Newton has been hit with an enforcement action related to its compliance with anti-money-laundering laws.

While national mortgage fraud risk is on the decline, here's a look at six markets where loan defects are rising.

Scott Kavanaugh, CEO of First Foundation Bank in Irvine, Calif., talks about running a startup bank during the financial crisis. The drought in de novos will likely continue because of high compliance costs, he said.

Quadriga Fintech Solutions Corp., a Canadian bitcoin exchange, is launching a blockchain innovation research lab to build new payments and financial services technology.

Hilltop Holdings in Dallas has rebranded its securities unit as it prepared to combine two broker-dealer businesses it picked up from a recent acquisition.

A class-action settlement filed late Thursday awarded $59 million to tens of thousands of New Yorkers who had their bank accounts frozen and wages garnished in an illegal collection scheme.

Industry advocates say Consumer Financial Protection Bureau curbs on arbitration will eliminate a favored legal option, but where's the evidence that banks really prefer arbitration?

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.

Video games have long been supportive of new payment systems, in part because many games cater to an audience that may be too young to have a traditional bank account or credit card. But can gamers also be a good target market for financing?

The top Democrat on the House Small Business Committee is looking into what regulators are doing to protect small-business borrowers who use online lenders.

PwC's Dennis Nally on how men can empower women in financial services; Fidelity's Kathy Murphy on drawing female customers to financial planning; Well Fargo's Maureen O'Donnell on welcoming female advisers aboard; and are the regulatory agencies welcoming to women?

A handful of entrepreneurs have created apps that let workers, especially those with inconsistent incomes, receive portions of their paychecks before payday. Their emergence underscores how slower payments look out of date in an on-demand world.

The American Bankers Association named Georgia community banker Daniel Blanton its new chairman and elected three additional officers during its annual convention.

MasterCard has made a series of changes to its executive slate, including the appointment of a chief information officer.

NCR has reached an agreement for an $820 million investment from private equity giant Blackstone Group, which it will use to fund a $1 billion stock buyback.

In a few instances, banks have temporarily blocked data aggregators from screen scraping customers' bank account information. Are the banks exercising appropriate judgment or obstructing potential competitors?

While cybersecurity has already been part of bank exams for years, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is highlighting it as a separate comment in order to ensure the issue is getting appropriate attention from bank executives and boards.

The forthcoming "overnight bank funding rate" should give banks and researchers a more accurate picture of funding costs, but it is not clear whether the rate is part of the Fed's effort to reform Libor.