Corporate finance

Loan growth and higher yields helped offset a 20% increase in expenses at the Arkansas bank in the first quarter. Meanwhile, it warned of one-time rebranding costs to come in the third quarter.

The Kansas City, Mo., company also benefited from higher yields on its loans and flat funding costs.

The Seattle bank's improved loan yields offset higher expenses tied to Bank Secrecy Act remediation. Washington Federal had to delay a pending acquisition after issues emerged with its anti-money-laundering compliance.

If banks with high loan-to-deposit ratios overpay for brokered and promotion-driven deposits to fuel loan growth, they run the eventual risk of a liquidity crunch in an era when deposits — and the economy itself — are expected to be more volatile.

It's not enough to say you provide excellent service. You have to define what it is in a concrete, measurable way to live up to that promise. Take these steps to do just that.

The heads of Mastercard and Santander outlined the concrete steps their firms are taking to bring unbanked consumers into the financial system.

Short sellers tend to go against the tide, making investments based on a belief that a stock is going to tank. These 10 banks have drawn the greatest amount of short-interest activity recently.

The San Francisco-based online lender reported a net loss of $115 million for 2017, more than half of which was connected to warrants issued in a deal that stabilized the struggling firm.

In an update on the Deposit Insurance Fund, FDIC staff said the fund's ratio of reserves to estimated deposits will likely reach the required 1.35% level by the second half of 2018.

The Indiana-based credit union made significant gains in membership, lending, assets and more.

The company will take a nearly $10 million hit after setting aside funds to cover a case of potential borrower fraud.

Ken Rees at Elevate Credit calls payday lending "the roach motel of financial products" and says his alternative has helped subprime borrowers get back on their feet.

Senior leaders at the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said they want examiners to be more understanding of the budding partnerships forming between banks and fintech firms.

The Golden Contract Coalition, formed in mid-2016 to get community banks better deals with the “big three” core systems vendors, said banks need help with buying from fintech sellers as well.

Wells has helped gun and ammunition companies access $431 million in loans and bonds since the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting. Other financial firms that are active as bookrunners for gunmakers include Morgan Stanley, TD Securities, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase.

Deposit prices are starting to rise, deposit growth is slowing, commercial loan growth remains tepid (with some exceptions) and concerns are mounting about the economic toll of U.S. trade policy, bank executives said just a few weeks ahead of the end of the quarter.

The company received bad news about the commercial loan after it reported a narrow profit in mid-February.

The booming U.S. economy continues to fuel earnings at Toronto-Dominion Bank — and President Trump's tax cuts will only make things better.

Ocwen Financial Corp.'s acquisition of PHH Corp. will help the nonbank servicer rebuild scale that's been diminished by years of regulatory restrictions and the decline in distressed mortgage volume brought about by improvements in the overall housing market.

Square burst on the payments scene nine years ago with a card reader that allowed small merchants to accept plastic card payments through their mobile devices. Its Square Cash app received considerably less fanfare — until now.