The acquisitive Bank of North Carolina is using a new iPad and desktop app to help its frontline employees make product recommendations to customers.

The Connecticut lender overhauled its enterprise risk management system after becoming frustrated with inefficient spreadsheets.

A senior regulatory official on Wednesday continued the alarm bell over the brisk growth in auto lending, suggesting that some lending terms could be setting up banks for trouble.

Banks would likely not see an immediate effect from the Federal Communications Commission's open Internet plan, but experts say it could prevent future discriminatory moves by carriers that want to compete more in offering financial services.

Doral Financial's future took another blow after the Puerto Rican company disclosed that its bank is now viewed by regulators as being "critically undercapitalized."

U.S. Century Bank inDoral, Fla., has received regulatory approval for its plan to raise $65 million in capital, according to a news report.

Community Bank System in Syracuse, N.Y., has agreed to buy Oneida Financial in Oneida, N.Y.

Community bank earnings surged 28% to $4.8 billion during the fourth quarter, compared to a 7.3% decline for the industry as a whole, according to a report released Tuesday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Docking Bancshares in Arkansas City, Kan., has agreed to buy RelianzBank in Wichita, Kan.

American Banker’s Index of Banking Activity hit a three-year low in January as falling oil prices and harsh winter weather tamped down borrowing.

Huntington had admired the finance firm for decades, but it was the Ohio company's Midwestern ties that helped it snag the unit from other suitors.

A more efficient, customer-friendly process for small-dollar commercial loan requests is a matter of competitive necessity for most community banks.

BofI Holding in San Diego is planning a new $50 million offering after raising the same amount earlier this year.

Huntington Bancshares in Columbus, Ohio, has agreed to buy Macquarie Equipment Finance in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

Banks are transforming branches, rolling out new products and experimenting with alternative data, in an effort to bring more people into the financial mainstream. Such initiatives might have been a footnote in the past, but they have grown into a serious business strategy lately.

A sudden funding crisis forced John Bryant to shake up Operation Hope and develop a new model that relies heavily on banks to promote financial literacy. If it succeeds, Bryant says, it will drive more customers to banks and credit unions — and maybe even put payday lenders out of business.

Financial illiteracy is costing cities billions in revenue. Would more money-management programs in schools — funded by the sale of government bonds — change that?

The upstarts are shaking up the world of small-business financing, but with fraud concerns mounting, some say it's only a matter of time before they come under the scrutiny of state and federal regulators.

Creating checking accounts, mortgages and consumer loans with features that suit folks with lower incomes is paying off in unexpected ways for some banks.

Daunted by the challenge of how your bank can help underserved members of the community? Here are some simple tips and bits of wisdom from bankers, nonprofit leaders and local government officials.