The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to draft rules governing payday lending this year. But the conventional wisdom that will likely guide it is based on false perceptions about the working poor and the best way to serve them. So argues Lisa Servon, a professor at The New School.

Farmers & Merchants Bank (FMBL) in Long Beach, Calif., has hired a chief banking officer, filling a newly created post.

No matter how streamlined my finances have become, there is one regular nuisance: sending money to and from family or friends without the friction that requires recipients to provide hard-to-remember information like account numbers and routing numbers.

Iberiabank Corp. (IBKC) in Lafayette, La., has agreed to buy Teche Holding (TSH) in New Iberia, La.

We’re asking customers from different demographics to describe what they are looking for from their financial services providers.

The $4.7 billion-asset company and certain investors are planning to raise up to $230 million through an initial public offering.

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Merchants Bancorp in Hillsboro, Ohio, has agreed to buy certain assets and assume certain liabilities of a DCB Financial (DCBF) branch.

Torrington Savings Bank of Connecticut has hired a replacement for its retiring chief executive.

Some banks will be leery about originating loans to the self-employed because they can't document their ability to repay, but others insist that such loans, even outside of QM, are too lucrative to ignore.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will soon begin looking beyond the rollout of new mortgage regulations this month to other markets. American Banker's Rachel Witkowski, who covers the CFPB, offers insights into where the agency is headed and when.

Two private banks in Georgia skillfully used a state process meant to protect the interests of everyday investors to hasten consideration of their merger application. Some other states have similar laws.

CEO Dan Rollins has faced external pressure to trim expenses. Eliminating overlap with Ouachita Bancshares, his first acquisition since joining BancorpSouth, could help him do that.

The Dallas company would is seeking to buy the remaining shares in SWS Group that it does not already own.

National Capital Bank of Washington has named Robert Comstock, its legal counsel, as its chief executive. He succeeded Richard Didden Sr., who recently died.

Blackhawk Bancorp (BWHB) in Beloit, Wis., announced several executive changes.

Four Oaks Fincorp (FOFN) in Four Oaks, N.C., and its bank have agreed to pay $1.2 million to settle claims they ignored warning signs of a scheme to defraud customers.

Old National Bancorp says it learned its lesson from the recent defection of some important lenders from a bank it agreed to buy last fall, and it incorporated those in structuring its deal announced this week for United Bancorp.

The qualified-mortgage rule, reduced refi activity and ongoing commoditization are forcing smaller institutions to take a hard look at exiting the mortgage origination business.