Payday lenders on Wednesday pushed back against Google's plan to ban payday loan advertisements, arguing it was discriminatory and "a form of censorship."

Citigroup is testing Bluetooth beacon technology in a pilot that gives customers cardless access to branch ATMs after business hours, among other services.

HomeStreet in Seattle has agreed to buy most of the assets and deposits of Bank of Oswego, including the Lake Oswego, Ore., bank's branches.

First Connecticut Bancorp in Farmington has committed to making $5 million in small-business loans over the next year.

Debt-buying giant Encore Capital Group Inc. reported first quarter earnings of $25.7 million.

Navient has been recognized as a 2020 Women on Boards Winning "W" Company for the second consecutive year. The national award is presented to companies with at least 20% women on their board of directors.

Google said Wednesday it will ban ads for payday loans to protect its customers from what it considers deceptive and harmful financial products. The ban goes into effect on July 13.

Defunct online lender Integrity Advance has filed a lawsuit accusing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau of launching an enforcement action against the company without the legal authority to do so.

Sallie Krawcheck unveiled Ellevest, a digital investment platform for women and the latest of her female-oriented ventures, on Wednesday.

Growth in consumer-facing businesses propelled the Index of Banking Activity to a solid 57.1 reading in April. However, a sharp loss of momentum on indicators that track commercial lending yielded one of the sharpest divergences to date between the commercial and consumer sides of the business.

Among the activities tracked by the IBA's individual components, only deposit pricing came in below 50 for the month. But most components saw their scores decline from March, and the components that track commercial loan applications and approvals, both of which were very strong in March, declined by significant margins and hovered at levels just above the break-even mark in April. (Scores above 50 are indicative of expansion within a business line, while those below 50 indicate contraction.)

On a regional level, survey respondents in the Northeast reported increased pressure on new consumer- and commercial-loan pricing. Bankers in the energy-sensitive West were the most likely to report weakness in commercial lending, both in terms of applications and approvals.

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U.S. banks are under pressure to do more with their data to understand their customers' needs and make the best offer. But the rub is that global privacy rules are getting tougher, and consumers are starting to want to own their data.

CBI Bank & Trust in Muscatine, Iowa, said Tuesday that it has agreed to buy a branch in Davenport, Iowa, from MidWestOne Bank in Iowa City.

If alternative small-business lenders don't get engaged in the regulatory dialogue, they risk letting a few bad apples determine their fate.

After two failed attempts to find a buyer, New England Bancorp in Massachusetts agreed to close all four of its offices before selling to Independent Bank. Independent ultimately decided to keep one branch open.

Wells Fargo is starting a program to offer small businesses online loans in as soon as one day, targeting territory occupied by On Deck and LendingClub.

Daniel Schrider, chief executive of Sandy Spring Bancorp in Olney, Md., discusses a controversial change to loan-loss accounting rules — known as the Current Expected Credit Loss standard, or CECL — and why it will be a burden for community banks.

The steady stream of bad news continues for online marketplace lenders.

Sunshine Bancorp in Plant City, Fla., has agreed to buy FBC Bancorp in Orlando, Fla.

The Treasury Department on Tuesday capped off a nearly yearlong inquiry into the burgeoning marketplace lending industry with a policy paper that recommends increased transparency and customer protections while also highlighting the sector's potential for expanding credit access.

U.S. consumers who lost money to a Canada-based debt and mortgage relief scam will receive nearly $1.87 million.