Drew Breakspear spent decades as a banker before becoming the top industry enforcer in Florida. He is empathetic to banks, realizes the growing importance of virtual currencies like Bitcoin and believes more bankers should serve on the Fed's Board of Governors.

Bitcoin startups are much more outspoken about security than traditional payments companies are, and the new Ciphrex wallet is no exception, claiming to be the first to use multi-signature transaction management.

Cardtronics has renewed its contract with Walgreens to be a preferred provider of ATM services.

Consumers who have used mobile remote deposit capture highly value it, but financial institutions need to do a better job promoting this service, a new report concludes.

Customers Bancorp (CUBI) in Wyomissing, Pa., disclosed unexpectedly high sequential loan growth in the first quarter.

The GSEs are the essence of highly leveraged, systemically important financial institutions, based on their size, interconnectedness and the lack of substitutability

Distressed-bank rollups were all the rage among private-equity and hedge fund investors in the early days of the financial crisis. The results have been decidedly mixed, as the following examples illustrate.

Charles H. Keating, whose leadership of a California savings and loan made him the face of a banking crisis and a millstone around the politicians who tried to help him, has died. He was 90.

Alamogordo Financial Corp. (ALMG) in Alamogordo, N.M., has agreed to pay more money to purchase Bank 1440 (BFFO) in Phoenix.

Scrapping the "call-center-as-a-machine" model and the "customer-as-widget" mentality will allow organizations to make real progress in the battle for customer experience.

Sun Bancorp (SNBC) in Vineland, N.J., has selected its next chief executive.

The borough of Phoenixville, Pa. is reviewing whether to hire an outside collection agency to pursue the an estimated $1 million in unpaid water, sewer and trash bills.

Debt buyer Encore Capital Group Inc. announced it received regulatory approval to acquire a controlling stake in a management company that purchases credit portfolios and focuses on UK insolvencies and Spanish assets.

Hilltop Holdings (HTH) in Dallas has finally reached an agreement to buy the remaining shares in SWS Group (SWS) that it does not already own.

An upcoming Senate Banking Committee vote this month could be the tipping point needed for housing finance reform to actually happen — or it could signal yet more stagnation. American Banker editors discuss the political stakes and potential pitfalls as Congress attempts to change how the government supports the mortgage market.

PayStand has launched an online payments platform that allows a variety of payments modes, including Bitcoin, electronic checks and cards.

The effects of the financial crisis are still being seen in the behavior of credit card lenders and borrowers, a new report suggests. Lenders have lowered risk-taking and rates, but consumers are carrying lighter debt loads.

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman's office announced agreements Tuesday with 10 businesses that will limit their marketing of title loans, a type of payday loan, to residents of the state.

The Los Angeles companies said Tuesday that the Federal Reserve Board has approved the $2.3 billion deal.

A Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison and must pay $9.2 million for his role in mortgage and bank fraud schemes.