Virtually all discussions of banking crises these days assume that depositors should always be protected, often at taxpayer expense. Let's consider whether at least some depositors should be bailed in.

A new report finds that consumers have a deeply ingrained expectation that checking accounts should be free. It argues that banks need to become savvier and more scientific in order to overcome that barrier.

BofI Holding (BOFI) in San Diego earned a record quarterly profit on surging interest income and a higher interest margin.

First Niagara (FNFG) in Buffalo has created a banking region that includes branches it bought last year from HSBC.

Promontory responds to Joe Slavens.

Flagstar has asked the Treasury to delay the sale of its Tarp shares, will have to pay more than $90 million in connection with a bond insurer's lawsuit, and announced the sale of more commercial loans.

Taking fire from the enemy is hazardous, but for soldiers who save money it offers at least one financial perk.

Capital Bank Financial (CBF) in Miami said its board had authorized the repurchase of up to $50 million of its common stock, which could take place through open-market or through private transactions.

Regulators seem obsessed with preventing false negatives: loans that pass underwriting and then default. They should consider the costs of false positives, i.e., restricting loans that probably would perform fine.

A unit of United Community Financial (UCFC) in Youngstown, Ohio, has been freed from an enforcement action with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Ohio Division of Financial Institutions.

A Chicago private-equity firm has acquired a mortgage company from a struggling Milwaukee bank.

Banks have nearly picked the last of the low-hanging earnings fruit.

A family trust set up by CVB Financial (CVBF) co-founder George Borba is considering selling up to 2 million shares for tax and estate planning purposes.

Forcht Bank in Lexington, Ky., is set to open its first in-store branch. The $950 million-asset bank has an agreement to open a branch inside a Kroger grocery store in Louisville, Ky., the Business First Journal reported in its online edition Tuesday.

Bank of Virginia (BOVA) in Midlothian, Va., will invest in Stonegate Mortgage’s residential mortgage-loan participation program.

The nation's biggest asset manager now owns roughly 6% of the outstanding stock in UMB, the companies disclosed in Tuesday filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Fed said Tuesday that it terminated a written agreement with Progressive on Feb. 1. The agreement barred Progressive or its $136 million-asset ProGrowth Bank in Nicollet, Minn., from paying dividends or taking on new debt without approval.

Favorable views of market conditions gained momentum at the end of the year as lawmakers reached a compromise to stave off the fiscal cliff.

Smaller banks are beginning to see more revenue from service charges as they experiment with new fees and products.

With the price of farmland surging, demand from small farmers for guaranteed mortgages is also way up. Now banks want Congress to raise the cap on those loans.