Banking

WASHINGTON — The number of complaints about the credit reporting industry rose sharply in July, surging by 56% from a month earlier, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Tuesday.

Standard Treasury, the startup that Silicon Valley Bank absorbed this month, is helping create software gateways for the institution's high-tech business clients to customize the way they interact with it.

Fannie Mae is revamping its affordable mortgage program to make it easier for low- and moderate-income families to qualify for low-down-payment loans.

The CFPB is considering suing Navient Corp., the largest student loan company in the U.S., for allegedly cheating borrowers, Navient officials disclosed Monday in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Traditional gadflies are again pressing banks to find buyers. They could soon be joined by less vocal investors who still know how to put pressure on executives and directors.

Loans to first-time homeowners and others with low credit scores are a big part of the Federal Housing Administration's growth in purchase mortgages since the agency cut premiums.

Community banks must pay more attention to their clients' problems, needs and desires. Unfortunately, too many small banks have embraced a one-size-fits all marketing model.

Algonquin State Bank in Illinois has promoted several employees in a revamping of executive management.

Marketplace lenders and other alternative finance companiesshould be perceived not as a threat, but rather as a group of pioneers opening up opportunities for those banks that elect to buy, build or partner in this market.

A proposal from city council members in Arlington, Texas would impose stronger restrictions on payday and auto title lenders, including limiting where and in what type of buildings they can do business.

SBT Bancorp in Simsbury, Conn., plans to raise about $7.5 million through a private placement of subordinated debt and $8.6 million through a public offering of common stock.

CVB Financial in Ontario, Calif., has appointed entertainment industry veteran Kristina Leslie to its board.

Even as the number of credit unions shrinks, the number of credit union branches is going up, opposite the trend in bank branching, according to new analysis.

Subprime consumers are being offered more credit cards but delinquency rates remain low, according to the latest TransUnion Industry Insights Report.

Many community banks seem to have forgotten that they are most valuable for their ability to identify customers' pain and put an end to it. But fierce competition from fintech startups like Lending Club and Kabbage offers a reminder that they cannot afford to disregard this reality.

The CFPB is considering suing Navient Corp., the largest student loan company in the U.S., for allegedly cheating borrowers. Navient officials disclosed Monday in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Citizens First in Bowling Green, Ky., has appointed a Tennessee businessman and a Kentucky government official to its board.

Phoenixville Federal Bank & and Trust in Pennsylvania has converted to a state charter.

ASB Bancorp in Asheville, N.C., has received its second demand in less than a month to put itself on the auction block.

Regions Financial in Birmingham, Ala., has hired a former Bank of New York Mellon executive as head of its corporate trust group.