Bank channel

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. on Monday said it struck a deal to buy Royal Bank of Canada's U.S. retail banking operations for $3.45 billion.

For Capital One Financial Corp.'s planned acquisition of ING Direct to pay off, the lender will have to follow quickly with another deal, and the economy must not falter.

HSBC Holdings PLC has stepped up its retreat from the U.S. by officially putting its upstate New York retail franchise on the block in addition to its credit card portfolio.

After months of rumors, Wells Fargo & Co. — the nation's largest originator of reverse mortgages — made it official confirming that it is leaving the sector, but will remain as a servicer.

A new annual study from J.D. Power and Associates shows that RBC Wealth Management ranks first compared to other firms in investor satisfaction.

USAA Federal Savings Bank plans to unveil an overhauled website this month that can provide the kinds of conversations online that typically only happen face-to-face in branches.

Chicago has long been viewed as a market ripe for consolidation, but the Second City might be starting to rot on the vine.

After the flurry of role changes at JPMorgan Chase & Co. this week, it is easy to dwell on the relative power of executives and their career trajectories.

A FINRA arbitration panel has ordered Bank of America Merrill Lynch to pay Angel E. Aquino $1.55 million in compensatory damages and expunge language in his Form U5.

Huntington Bancshares this week rolled out mobile banking applications for customers' iPhones and Android-powered smartphones that will allow them to check balances, pay bills and transfer funds on the fly.

The question of whether some banks are still "too big to fail" will not be settled until the next crisis. That, in a nutshell, was the takeaway from a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Tuesday, where lawmakers fought with each other over whether the Dodd-Frank Act adequately addressed the problem.

When Congress threatened to cap the interchange fees that banks collect on debit card transactions, the industry argued that such a move would force it to kill off its own debit rewards programs. As it turns out, the demise of those programs might inconvenience consumers but it is unlikely to deal banks much of a financial blow.

Christopher Adams returns to Citi in a new position as managing director of investment finance in the firm’s New York office.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon's scolding of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke had broad support among bankers reeling from a re-defeat on the Durbin amendment and renewed anxieties about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. With "300 rules coming," as Dimon lamented, there are plenty of things for bankers to hate.

HSBC Holdings PLC will exit the U.S. credit card business whether it finds a buyer for its $33 billion card portfolio here or not.

Bankers lost the Senate fight over interchange fees, but they are hoping the vote will help convince the Federal Reserve Board to raise its proposed 12-cent cap.

Merger and acquisition activity has been in the summer doldrums … since Jan. 1. Expectations had been high that 2011 would bring some serious moving and shaking among community banks. But the murky economy and regulatory uncertainty have discouraged buyers, turning them skeptical and picky.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nonbank that banks love to hate -- and fear -- is at it again. The retailer next week will begin rolling out automated versions of its MoneyCenter offices, which provide a range of financial services to shoppers.

Visa Inc. said its acquisition of the South African mobile payments company Fundamo will help it serve more underbanked consumers abroad. The San Francisco payments network said it would pay about $110 million for the Cape Town company.

AmericanWest Bank in Spokane, Wash., is moving into the California market with a deal to buy another bank from ailing Capitol Bancorp Ltd.