Automated Clearing House payments are cheap, but compared to other payment methods they are slow, and companies are constantly developing adaptations and alternatives to make such payments in real time.

The pace of small-business lending slowed in April as demand from borrowers weakened and lenders of all sizes approved fewer loans.

A tiny merger in Maine could prove a test case for a type of deal that risk-averse acquirers have been struggling to pull off.

Mike Slocum, head of Capital One's growing commercial and specialty lending operations, has helped the bank diversify by financing some very niche industries.

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Six months ago Alliance Bankshares and a merger partner called off a deal they had announced - and Alliance's CEO says the Virginia bank has found a superior alternative.

Paul Nash, a former lobbyist, will advise the new comptroller after heading FDIC's legislative operations during run-up to Dodd-Frank.

First Bank of Delaware is set to shut down by the end of the year, the result of a wide-ranging consent order issued that alleged weaknesses in the bank's monitoring of relationships in its e-payment and money services business lines, and poor compliance efforts.

Triumph Bancshares of Germantown, Tenn., has sold 1.35 million shares to investors, raising roughly $12.2 million in fresh funds to help grow its bank.

Top executives at Bank Mutual (BKMU) in Milwaukee told investors Monday that the company is eyeing acquisitions of banks and other financial services firms in its quest to become a “much larger company” in the next few years.

It's accounting — specifically purchase accounting, Gerard Cassidy of RBC Capital Markets says in a Q&A. The problem will persist until the economy and the real estate market improve further, he warns.

International Bancshares (IBOC) of Laredo, Texas, reported first-quarter income of $28.3 million, down more than 6% from a year earlier, as the company collected lower fees from interchange and overdraft protection.

With strong ledgers and creative management, many community bankers are proving they can thrive despite greater regulatory hurdles and the ever-present threat of large banks.

Old Line Bancshares (OLBK) in Bowie, Md., said Monday that its first-quarter earnings climbed 236% from the same period last year, to $1.8 million, thanks largely to an acquisition last year that roughly doubled its size.

Fewer midmarket companies are expecting to seek financing this year as balance sheets have become stronger, according to a new report from Deloitte.

The board at Shore Bancshares (SHBI) of Easton, Md., has voted to suspend its one cent per share quarterly cash dividend following its $3 million loss in the first quarter.

Members of HarborOne Credit Union in Brockton, Mass., would not be better served by the credit union's plan to convert to a savings bank, according the nation's top credit union regulator.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed Security Bank in North Lauderdale, Fla., on Friday, bringing the total number of failures so far in 2012 to 23.

Cardinal Bankshares, a Floyd, Va., company also alleges in a lawsuit that Henry Logue attempted to sell the company without the board's permission.

Suffolk Bancorp (SUBK) swung to a profit in the first quarter as the Riverhead, N.Y., company continued to shed the problem assets that dogged it for much of 2011.