Banking

Minnesota lawmakers plan to introduce legislation next year to curb payday lending after a previous proposal failed that would have limited the number of loans consumers can take out to four.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have a regulatory mandate to shrink. But that's easier said than done, given the GSEs' outsized presence in the mortgage industry, as their latest quarterly results show.

While marketplace lenders have introduced valuable innovation into financial services, they carry a fundamental flaw that threatens to undermine their business, destabilize financial markets and cause real economic hardship.

Cheviot Financial in Cincinnati has elected James Williamson chairman.

Bank of Hawaii in Honolulu has hired Sheh Bertram as chief information officer.

Entegra Financial in Franklin, N.C., has agreed to buy two South Carolina branches from Arthur State Bank in Union, S.C.

The Wall Street titan, having borne the costs of being a regulated bank for a number of years, is now looking to reap some of the benefits that come with a banking license.

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Regional banks are selling more and more of the machines that big retailers use to count, store and deposit cash. As old-school as it sounds, it's making the banks money at a time when they need alternative revenue sources.

Astoria Financial in Lake Success, N.Y., has named a former Citigroup banker a director of business banking.

Health and wellness apps may not much in common with small business payments and merchant services, but it was the fitness-tracking craze that lit a fire under Intuit to build an Apple Watch app for its clients.

In his first interview since taking over HSBC's U.S. bank late last year, CEO Patrick Burke contends that the U.S. bank could prove to be HSBC's hidden gem provided it focuses on multinational corporate clients and cooperates better with its global affiliates.

Foothills Community Bank in Dawsonville, Ga., has named John Lewis interim chief executive.

DBA International, an association representing debt buyers, hosted its 2015 Executive Summit this week in Park City, Utah.

A trans-Atlantic trademark dispute pits one of the most talked-about startups in the emerging blockchain technology field against a futures exchange whose founder is involved in another ballyhooed blockchain firm.

BNC Bancorp in High Point, N.C., has agreed to buy Southcoast Financial in Mount Pleasant, S.C., for $95.5 million in stock.

Banks that sold faulty mortgage-backed securities right before the crisis have suffered a string of legal defeats over the timing of government lawsuits, but some experts believe the industry may still have a shot in the Supreme Court.

Increases in credit card and auto loan balances were not enough to keep overall household debt balances from remaining flat since the first quarter, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Household Debt and Credit Report.

Empire National Bank in Islandia, N.Y., has named former Commerce Bank president and chief executive Robert Falese to its board.

Malvern Federal Savings Bank has hired its chief risk officer from a rival Pennsylvania bank.