Banking

A federal judge approved a class-action settlement against a law firm and collection agency for alleged Fair Debt Collection Practices Act violations.

Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) said a drop in the value of a payments subsidiary, and higher legal costs, led to a 25% year-over-year drop in its quarterly profit.

Wal-Mart's new "Walmart-2-Walmart" transfer service will enable consumers to send money to each other by using the retail chain's store network.

PrivateBancorp (PVTB) in Chicago beat quarterly earnings estimates as its lending revenue and credit quality continued to improve.

The Cleveland company reported earnings of $236 million, up more than 18% from a year earlier. Earnings per share of 27 cents beat analysts' estimates polled by Bloomberg by three cents.

Webster Financial Corp. (WBS) in Waterbury, Conn., reported solid first-quarter results thanks to a surge in commercial lending.

BB&T (BBT) in Winston-Salem, N.C., narrowly missed Wall Street's first-quarter expectations because of sluggish loan growth.

William Young, the founding chief executive officer of Virginia Partners Bank in Fredericksburg, Va., will retire on June 30.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, plans to start a money transfer business as it works to provide customers with more financial services.

JPMorgan Chase digital chief Gavin Michael, who joined the firm a year ago, has a certain disdain for some competitors' staid mobile-banking apps. So when it came time for the bank to update its app, Michael said he studied software produced by technology startups.

Hancock Holding (HBHC) in Gulfport, Miss., reported higher quarterly earnings after it aggressively cut costs.

American Express' joint travel venture may get delayed as it awaits regulatory approval, CFO Jeff Campbell told investors Jan 16.

Banks are aiming to add personal financial management features, including goal-based savings vaults and cash flow forecasting, to standard banking apps like mobile check depositing. Their goal: Turn Gen-Y into a loyal client base.

American Express (AXP) reported a 12% increase in earnings Wednesday on the strength of improvements in credit quality, cuts in expenses and a modest boost in revenue.

Capital One (COF) in McLean, Va., posted slighter higher quarterly earnings that surpassed analysts' expectations.

B of A caught observers off guard by announcing $6 billion in mortgage litigation expenses, but the move is an attempt to convince analysts and investors that there is an end in sight to its crisis-era legal woes. It just might work.

WASHINGTON — Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry said his agency is increasingly concerned about the cybersecurity risks from banks relying too much on certain vendors and using service providers in foreign countries.

As drafted, the Johnson-Crapo bill would allow big banks to originate, aggregate, and guarantee mortgages. Small lenders worry such vertically integrated companies could price them out of the business.

Executives at U.S. Bancorp, PNC and Huntington all sounded cautiously optimistic about lending opportunities and each has a favorite region when it comes to finding borrowers.

Bank of America Corp. is paying $950 million to settle claims that its Countrywide unit pooled faulty mortgages into securities that helped hobble Financial Guaranty Insurance Co. and saddled buyers with losses.