Banking

NCR and Diebold – the two largest ATM manufacturers in the U.S. – report that skimming is getting worse. One likely reason: the adoption of harder-to-skim EMV chip cards in this country starting in October.

The Federal Housing Administration is expected to rebuff a government watchdog report that blasted down payment assistance programs. The report has raised concerns that mortgage lenders would have to indemnify FHA for past loans, and that housing finance agencies would have the programs restructured.

Financial institutions take information security concerns very seriously, but few make it a priority to keep accountholders updated on their safeguarding efforts.

Mortgage servicer Residential Credit Solutions agreed Thursday to pay $1.5 million for blocking consumers’ attempts to keep their homes from foreclosure.

The FTC is mailing nearly $1 million to people who lost money in a credit card interest rate reduction scam.

Retailers had made repeated efforts to reject two class-action settlements — one with Visa and MasterCard, one with Amex — to no avail, but a well-publicized scandal involving lawyer conduct has swept up both cases and given the critics a real shot at scuttling them.

Consumers hold tight to the belief that servicers are only concerned about their ability to make payments, despite a growing industry focus on customer experience.

Santander Consumer USA Holdings in Dallas reported higher profits due to a spike in gains on loan sales.

A recent FCC ruling lumps legitimate businesses in with the telemarketing abusers and will hold banks to unrealistic standards.

A new Government Accountability Office report found that the Internal Revenue Service’s uncollected tax debts rose 23% since 2009 to $380 billion while the agency’s collection staff fell 23% during the same period after years of budget cuts.

The nation's Federal Reserve Banks have kicked off a multi-year process aimed at speeding up our often painfully slow payment system. Earlier this month, a Fed task force on the issue elected a steering committee that will play a key role in defining a path forward. The 19 members on the steering committee represent various parts of the payments ecosystem, including banking giants, corporations like Walmart that are large users of the payment system, and payment innovators like Dwolla and Ripple Labs. Here's a look at 13 of them.

ESSA Bancorp in Stroudsburg, Pa., has agreed to buy Eagle National Bancorp in Upper Darby, Pa., for $25.3 million.

Lenders have increasingly turned to niche businesses, such as equipment financing, to differentiate themselves from competitors. Some banks, like Bank of the Cascades in Oregon, are choosing complicated specialties like aircraft financing that may scare off potential rivals.

BOK Financial in Tulsa, Okla., reported higher second-quarter earnings as mortgage banking and loan growth offset an increase in expenses.

Commerce Bancshares Kansas City, Mo., has found its customers want to save the planet, but don't want to put in too much effort, so the issuer partnered with Sustain:Green for cards that offset carbon emissions.

EverBank Financial in Jacksonville, Fla., reported a 20% jump in second-quarter profit, driven by strong consumer and commercial loan volume.

A House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology hearing on the FCC's policy decisions prompted a discussion on the application of rules regarding robocalls.

One of the nation's largest non-profit colleges is facing an FTC investigation for allegedly deceptive marketing practices.