Banking

Fidelity National Information Services Inc., the payment-services provider, is in exclusive talks to buy SunGard Data Systems Inc. in a deal with an enterprise value of more than $8.3 billion, people familiar with the matter said.

Financial institutions that make routine collection calls now face the threat of "robocall" class action lawsuits. Earlier this month, things went from bad to worse for banks that have not committed any abusive robo-calling practices.

AssetAvenue, a marketplace lender that specializes in commercial real estate finance, announced that it has hired Peter Coleman as its chief financial officer.

Wells Fargo is ending some marketing arrangements with real estate firms and home builders over concerns about regulatory scrutiny.

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 from our social media platforms.

Valley National in Wayne, N.J., reported an increase in second-quarter earnings on expanded commercial real estate and business lending.

Santander Consumer USA Holdings expects to endure more credit losses in the coming quarters, as it expands its portfolio of higher yielding, subprime loans. But its CEO sought to assure investors that its profits would far exceed those costs.

Buying Eagle National Bank would give Stroudsburg, Pa.-based ESSA an entrée into Philly's fast-growing western suburbs.

The bank plans to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including possible acquisitions such as potential FDIC-assisted transactions. Iberiabank may also use the proceeds for working capital and for investments in subsidiaries to support continued growth.

United Community Banks in Blairsville, Ga., has filed a shelf registration for senior notes to help pay for its acquisition of a South Carolina bank.

Home Affordable Modification Program denial rates are still high, but the Treasury Department and top mortgage servicers contend that the numbers have improved.

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.