Banking

Cullen/Frost Bankers in San Antonio, Texas, reported an uptick second-quarter earnings, boosted by its recent acquisition of WNB Bancshares.

Bank of America's Countrywide unit was ordered to pay $1.3 billion in penalties for defective mortgage loans it sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis, a little more than half of what the U.S. had requested.

Doral Financial, the holding company for Puerto Rico's second-largest mortgage lender, is trying to sell itself in parts, people with knowledge of the matter said, to maintain compliance with capital requirements.

Credit Karma says it's giving customers weekly access to their full credit files, to help them fix errors and monitor their information for signs of fraud. Will banks follow suit?

Payment technology provider First Data is moving into the virtual prepaid space by acquiring Gyft.

Patrick Sinks is taking the reins at MGIC as the mortgage insurer faces tougher capital standards and a more competitive field where his company is no longer No. 1.

The Justice Department's legal case against American Express will not benefit consumers and will weaken competition, said Jeff Campbell, executive vice president and CFO of American Express.

WEX Inc. is working to finalize several key acquisitions to bring the corporate payments provider into new markets.

First Data Corp. has agreed to buy Gyft Inc., which sells digital gift cards, in a move to advance the Atlanta-based processor's mobile payment offerings.

Tighter margins held back BOK Financial in Tulsa, Okla., last quarter. The $28 billion-asset company reported a profit of $76.7 million, down 4% from the same period last year.

Bank owners can make more objective decisions about whether it's the right time to sell by comparing the value of holding onto the bank to its private market price and instating an external review process, writes consultant J.V. Rizzi.

Lenders aren't keeping pace with a mounting backlog of applications for federal mortgage aid, placing some borrowers at increasing risk of losing their homes to foreclosure, according to the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

BBVA Compass in Houston reported a drop in second-quarter earnings, partly because of a larger loan-loss provision.

Valley National Bancorp in Wayne, N.J., reported that second-quarter earnings declined because of a significant drop in noninterest income.

Community banks are disappearing and big banks' global power is on the wane. Regulators should take steps to reverse these trends so that all Americans have access to the financial services they need, according to the American Bankers Association's Wayne Abernathy.

A federal court has shut down a mobile phone cramming scheme that piled more than $100 million in charges on consumers’ mobile phone bills without permission.

Lindorff Espana, part of Oslo, Norway-based collections and credit giant Lindorff, has purchased the debt recovery unit of Spain's Banco Sabadell for $218 million, the companies announced this week.

The Justice Department's legal case against American Express will not benefit consumers and will weaken competition, said Jeff Campbell, executive vice president and CFO of American Express.

BJ's Wholesale Club is planning to convert its co-branded credit card program to chip-enabled MasterCards.

South State reported higher second quarter earnings compared to last year, as the Columbia, S.C., company expanded through the combination of SCBT and First Financial Holdings.