Banking

BB&T in Winston-Salem, N.C., met Wall Street's earnings expectations after reporting revenue rose slightly. The company's second-quarter net income available to shareholders rose 7% from a year earlier, to $454 million. Revenue increased 1.3%, to $2.3 billion.

M&T Bank in Buffalo, N.Y., reported higher quarterly profit that reflected increased fees and higher net interest income.

Citigroup Inc., the third-largest U.S. bank, posted profit that beat analysts' estimates as Chief Executive Officer Michael Corbat showed progress on cutting costs.

A total of 597,589 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings in the first half of 2015, down 13% from the previous six months and down 3% from the same time period in 2014, according to RealtyTrac's Midyear U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.

The combination of swelling deposits and weak loan growth continues to be a tough problem for regional banks. U.S. Bancorp's Richard Davis thinks higher loan growth is just around the corner to solve the problem, but PNC's Bill Demchak fears deposits could flee faster than lending will ramp up.

Bank of America is trumpeting the doubling of its profits in the second quarter as a payoff from its long cleanup efforts. But the results relied mainly on lower legal costs and expense savings, while revenue declined in four key business lines.

Big banks with innovation labs see them as a way to improve the customer experience and to test new ideas in an industry facing disruption. Skeptics see potential for waste.

PacWest Bancorp, the parent of Pacific Western Bank in Los Angeles, reported earnings of $85.1 million in the second quarter, up 16% from the prior quarter.

Peoples Bancorp in Ohio wants to encourage cross-selling but limits the use of employee incentive payments to make it happen. Instead, Peoples is trying to build a corporate culture in which employees understand all of its products and want to help their colleagues sell them.

Federal Housing Administration endorsements continue to rise following the 50-basis point cut in January.

Santander Consumer USA Holdings named Blythe Masters nonexecutive chairman, replacing the executive who quit the post less than two weeks ago and a week after the subprime auto lender's parent company was hit with a regulatory order.

ZestFinance in Los Angeles has introduced a loan product for subprime borrowers whose credit scores nearly qualify as prime.

BancFirst in Oklahoma City has agreed to buy CSB Bancshares in Yukon, Okla.

Officials in Maury County, Tenn. will begin working with collection agency Pioneer Credit Recovery to recover an estimated $10 million in debts owed to the county.

Three Democratic members of Congress called on the Department of Housing and Urban Development to reissue the proposal for public comment with changes.

U.S. Bancorp posted profit that matched analysts' estimates as expenses declined and commercial lending accelerated.

ZestFinance in Los Angeles has introduced a loan product for subprime borrowers whose credit scores nearly qualify as prime.

Bank of America said second-quarter profit more than doubled as the mortgage business rebounded and expenses fell to the lowest since 2008.

BCB Bancorp has sold $2.4 million of preferred stock in a private placement.

The onetime track star was a fixture at the Mortgage Bankers Association for nearly 20 years and a familiar face at industry conferences.