The marijuana industry is still hampered by its own banking crisis, but the rigidity of federal laws is not stopping all advances in financial services for the sector.

It's easier than ever for consumers to take out personal loans to pay down high-cost debt or fund big-ticket purchases, and two new studies show that they are taking full advantage of their options.

Visa Inc., the world's largest payments network, said fiscal first-quarter profit rose 24 percent as consumer card spending increased.

Discover Financial Services reported a slowdown in growth in its credit card business but vowed to take steps to reverse the trend.

Capital One Financial's fourth-quarter profit fell short of projections as the McLean, Va., company boosted its reserves in anticipation of higher loan losses.

Visa has nabbed an executive from the media company Time Inc. to be its chief marketing and communications officer.

The Secured It Card requires a security deposit but also offers cash-back rewards and other perks normally associated with Discover's traditional cards.

The card issuer, buoyed by employment gains and its partnership with the megaretailer Amazon, is bullish on its growth prospects for 2016.

Bank chiefs should brace for a barrage of questions about economic uncertainty, if JPMorgan Chase's experience after releasing fourth-quarter results is any indication. Double-digit increases in loans and profits were not enough to stave off questions about the odds of recession, energy risks and adequacy of reserves.

Many emerging innovators want to incorporate digital advances into the incumbent financial services sphere, not necessarily leapfrog banks.

Consumers increasingly fell behind on their payments in several loan categories in the third quarter as economic growth cooled.

Following a new blueprint, card issuers are seeing returns on assets above 4% for the first time since before the financial crisis. How long the good times last will depend partly on how well the U.S. economy weathers turmoil in China and other markets.

The Seattle-based tech giant, in its latest foray into the financial services business, has begun offering installment loans to British consumers.

Consumer credit is better than ever before, even as Americans households have started levering up. But the big question for banks looking to re-commit to consumer lending is how.

As debt collection abuse cases rise in prominence and regulators ponder new rules, it's time to give the idea of a national debt registry a closer look.

Despite increased investment and development in the consumer payments space around mag stripe, EMV and contactless payments solutions, there is still a huge concern when it comes to data theft.

Far from the madding crowd, the GE spinoff Synchrony runs an innovation lab in Stamford, Conn., that is buzzing with pragmatic projects and a culture that promotes collaboration and quick execution of new ideas.

WASHINGTON — The Bancorp Bank in Wilmington, Del., has agreed to pay $4.3 million on charges brought by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. that the prepaid card issuer deceived consumers.

Dave Seleski founded Stonegate in 2005 and the decade since has built it into one of Florida's best-performing banks through a combination of prudent lending and opportunistic buying. Now he's got his sights set on Cuba and playing a key role in bringing that country's economy into the 21st century.

Branches using technology to issue cards on the spot leads to increased card usage, so banks should aim to maintain instant issuing capability with the EMV conversion.