Banking

Add Fitch Ratings to the growing chorus of banking industry voices expressing concern about the expiration of a bailout-era deposit protection program and its potential impact on small banks.

Bank of America Corp.'s Countrywide Financial unit is asking a judge to throw out claims for "billions of dollars" in damages by the Federal Housing Finance Agency for mortgage-backed securities bought by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

A government program that lets small-business owners refinance commercial mortgages is set to expire next week, but supporters are hopeful that Congress will revisit it after the November elections.

The New York bank is following Wells Fargo into offering emailed receipts.

A few years after a pair of high-profile failures pared their ranks and damaged their credibility, bankers' banks are seeking to overcome weak loan demand by becoming trusted advisors to small institutions.

Groupon is the latest of many companies to provide merchants with a card reader that clips to smartphones. But the daily-deals company is not simply selling a me-too device — it is planting the seeds of a bigger payments strategy.

Robert T. Isham, who has a private practice in nearby Lake Bluff, succeeded Willard Bunn 3rd as the board's new leader, the bank said on Wednesday.

Orrstown Financial Services (ORRF) is in the market for a new chief operating officer, adding to the list of vacated posts at the struggling company.

The number of Near Field Communication announcements in the payments industry seemingly increased quickly last week after it was revealed that Apple's iPhone 5 would not have an NFC chip.

Regions Bank is including its cash-back program in all its new mobile apps.

A federal judge has thwarted efforts by African-American consumers to proceed with a class-action lawsuit against Option One Mortgage in which the plaintiffs alleged that they were charged higher fees on home loans than white borrowers were.

Every consumer should have access to a low-cost, full service bank account that helps them make necessary payments, manage cash flow and avoid ancillary fees.

Software company Oracle is offering its own version of an in-store payment system similar to the ones used in Apple Stores.

A law firm that won an $8.5 billion settlement from Bank of America tied to faulty mortgage bonds said Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley failed to service $73 billion of similar securities.

Lynn Harton has held key titles at South Financial, Regions Financial and BB&T. As South Financial's CEO, he helped orchestrate the South Carolina company's sale to TD Bank.

Several well-known U.S. banks and credit card companies call themselves "global." During a two-week vacation in Thailand, an American Banker editor put their claims to the test.

Wintrust Financial (WTFC) has agreed to buy HPK Financial, the parent of Hyde Park Bank and Trust.

A simpler calculation isn't necessarily the right one. If a capital ratio misrepresents a bank's risk or creates incentives to take on more of it, simple is scarcely an improvement.

Although hospitality-focused mobile payment application developer Tabbedout's technology has some resemblance to Square's mobile wallet, the vendor says it designed its system to be more compatible with established payment systems.

Real estate values in some Detroit neighborhoods are surging as the state's automobile industry recuperates and investors flip bank-seized properties.