Lawrence Seidman helped arrange a face-to-face meeting of the companies' leaders, according to a regulatory filing. He also agreed to sell more than 2.3 million shares of Center stock to move the deal along.

A number of community banks took sizeable hits during the financial crisis due to dealings in participation loans. As more banks to reconsider these loans, some industry observers wonder if banks will stay disciplined.

It looks like average credit scores have fallen, but only if you examine GSE and FHA originations separately, the think tank's researchers say. When they are combined, the average holds steady.

First Bancorp (FBNC) in Southern Pines, N.C., saw its earnings nearly double in the first quarter from a year earlier behind higher net interest margin, lower provision for loan losses and higher fee income.

Banks have made major progress when it comes to promoting gay and lesbian equality at home. Now they are trying to solve their problems in countries including Russia and Uganda, mostly by advocating for change in private, the CEOs of Citi and MasterCard said Thursday.

Ocean Bank in Miami has been freed from an enforcement action by state and federal regulators.

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

World Acceptance, a Greenville, S.C.-based finance company that provides subprime consumer loans, submitted documents to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as part of a federal investigation into its lending practices.

A college chain fires back at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's first public enforcement action against a company in the for-profit college space.

South Carolina-based CertusBank attracted a half billions dollars in commitments to buy failed banks in the wake of the financial crisis. How the early high hopes have been dashed offers important lessons to the industry, regulators and outside investors.

A consumer debt collection agency was shut down by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Thursday morning after dozens of complaints were filed about the company's business tactics.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) has pledged to invest $20 million over the next five years to support U.S. military veterans and their communities.

The Colorado state legislature could decide soon if a new type of financial services co-operative — though not a credit union — will be created to serve the marijuana industry in the state.

Bitcoin ATM provider Robocoin is touting its ATMs as bank branches after launching an online banking platform, Robocoin Bank.

Texas, a big market for reverse mortgages, has approved a variation of the product that taps the equity in a senior's home to pay for a new, often smaller, dwelling.

Floridian Financial Group in Lake Mary, Fla., is merging its subsidiaries, Orange Bank of Florida in Orlando and Floridian Bank in Daytona Beach, under the Floridian Bank name.

S&T Bancorp (STBA) in Indiana, Pa., saw its first-quarter profits rise 14% from the same period last year, to $14 million, due to organic loan growth, and improved expense control and asset quality.

CertusBank in Greenville, S.C., continues to lose money, largely because of high expenses. The $1.6 billion-asset company lost $9 million in the first quarter, according to a call report filed with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Confusion over regulatory jurisdiction and burdensome compliance costs are cutting into community banks' profits and forcing them to consolidate. But it doesn't have to be this way.

Innovations on display this week have the potential to upend the bank sales process, disrupt consumer lending and change the way individuals invest in peer-to-peer loans.