Banking

After halting an Ocwen deal to purchase mortgage servicing rights from Wells Fargo, New York's Department of Financial Services is turning its attention to another nonbank servicer, Nationstar.

HomeStreet, the parent company of the $3 billion-asset HomeStreet Bank, plans to sell two pools of residential loans that it will continue to service.

The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday published its annual summary of collection enforcement activities, stating in has brought or resolved nine collection cases in the past year.

President Obama sent Congress a $3.9 trillion budget for 2015 that includes increased spending for employment and education - and language giving the Treasury Department the ability to call delinquent consumers on their cell phones using autodialers.

U.S. Bancorp, the nation's largest regional bank, gave Chief Executive Officer Richard Davis a 5.5 percent raise for his work last year.

Flexcoin, a Bitcoin bank, was forced to shutdown after hackers stole 896 units of the digital currency, the Guardian newspaper reported.

Park Sterling Corp. (PSTB) in Charlotte has agreed to buy Provident Community Bancshares (PCBS) in Rock Hill, S.C.

U.S. consumers spent an average of $87 per day last month, a strong rebound from $78 in January, which had been the lowest estimate in 14 months, according to Gallup.

Ripple Labs, which facilitates payments in mainstream and virtual currencies, is creating a developer portal and supporting a new accelerator. Already its efforts have made it possible to connect the Ripple payment network to websites that run on Magento's e-commerce platform.

Flexcoin, a Bitcoin bank, was forced to shutdown after hackers stole 896 units of the digital currency, the Guardian newspaper reported.

Community West Bancshares in Goleta, Calif., has promoted Michael Phlaum to executive vice president and chief operating officer of its bank unit.

Eastern Bank, a mutual thrift in Boston, can only offer cash when trying to buy other banks. Many sellers prefer stock, but Eastern has been able to consistently make acquisitions using its all-cash approach.

Citadel EFT, a credit card processing firm, announced Tuesday that it is exploring ways to allow state-licensed marijuana businesses to accept electronic payments from their customers.

As shopping moves online and chip-and-PIN technology is being created to make card-present fraud schemes less successful, card-not-present fraud has not seen a slowdown.

Now that financial regulators have finalized rules on social media interaction, firms like ING are, slowly and cautiously, beginning to let advisors experiment with social networks.

Zions Bancorp. (ZIONS) in Salt Lake City has named Scott McLean as its new president.

Many banks are eager to bulk up through acquisitions, but most have very specific criteria in what they want and are unwilling to settle for anything less, says McGladrey's Bob Browne.

Banking software provider Jack Henry & Associates (JKHY) has acquired the banking technology startup Banno.

The boards of directors of HomeTrust Bancshares (HTBI) and Bank of Commerce have reached a definitive agreement to form a strategic partnership for an undisclosed price.

A group of major banks have agreed to collaborate on a centralized know-your-customer registry with the financial messaging service Swift.