The financial condition of Chicago's ShoreBank Corp., which anxiously awaits word on a lifeline from the Treasury Department, has become precarious after a disastrous second quarter.

USAA Federal Savings Bank is shifting mobile banking into high gear by offering auto loans through customers' phones.

ShoreBank Corp., a Chicago bank known for its lending in low-income communities, has failed to win approval for $75 million in government funds and may be forced out of business, Bloomberg News reported Thursday on its website, citing three people with direct knowledge of the situation.

Oritani Financial Corp. in Washington, N.J., announced a quarterly loss of $4.1 million that it said stemmed in part from its conversion from a mutual to a stock company in June.

BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., reported Wednesday that its second-quarter loss widened by 33% from a year earlier, to $51.3 million.

Before the recession, Pacific Trust Bank was content to sit on the sidelines as other Southern California community banks vied with national lenders for commercial real estate borrowers.

In tough economic times, folks are more aware of the people and organizations in their communities who support them. A little goodwill can go a long way.

First Internet Bank of Indianapolis plans to enter the commercial lending business after more than a decade of focusing on consumer loans.

A federal judge last week sided with the competitor, Alliance Bancorp Inc. of Pennsylvania, and barred Sidhu's New Century Bank in Phoenixville from rebranding itself Customers 1st Bank. The judge said that name infringed on Alliance's trademark-protected Customer First products.

WASHINGTON — Regardless of whether the allegations of unethical conduct aimed at Rep. Maxine Waters and other members of the House Financial Services Committee hold up, there could be a chilling effect on relations between banks and members of Congress.

Cascade Bancorp in Bend, Ore., has filed a lawsuit against Cohen & Co. Financial Management, alleging that the investment firm is holding up a capital-raising effort on which Cascade's future depends.

United Western Bank is in a state of limbo, unable to satisfy, change or escape a key demand from its regulator. Colorado's largest thrift has missed a deadline to boost its capital, and regulators refuse to give it an extension or waiver.

BancTrust Financial Group Inc. in Mobile, Ala., has announced that it earned $969,000 in the second quarter, compared with a loss of $118 million a year earlier.

The $5.1 billion-asset company announced Monday that it has received regulatory approval to consolidate two of its banks — Bank of Valdosta and Peoples State Bank — in its Sunrise Bank of Atlanta. Collectively, the three banks have $136 million of assets.

Some banks and bank examiners, still reeling from the recession and large portfolios of bad loans, have tightened credit standards to unreasonable levels. This must change if we are going to have a sustainable economic recovery.

Two Middle Atlantic companies are seeking to bolster their common equity.

Nearly two years after the financial crisis began to tarnish the reputations of the nation's biggest banks, community bankers are finding they can still steal business from giant lenders.

Florida is still a prime destination for Centennial Bank in Conway, Ark., even as well-heeled acquirers move in and drive up bank prices.

The shift toward a more penny-wise society is driving banks to turn their focus to helping consumers save and, in the long run, be more profitable customers.