bank

Switching banks is a hassle, but outrage over the big financial institutions' efforts to pile on new steep fees pushed more than 2 million people to close their accounts over the past 3 months. Is Bank Transfer Day becoming Bank Transfer Year?

A year after the Federal Reserve enacted new rules to rein in abusive bank overdraft practices, fees remain high and some institutions actually have slapped on additional penalties, according to a new survey by the Consumer Federation of America.

In order to avoid new federal rules and heightened scrutiny from regulators, MetLife has decided to sell its banking unit. That's a smart move for the nation's largest life insurer, and keeps it on a level playing field with its competitors.

A new Russian ATM will make customers pay for lying: A voice-measured polygraph to be installed in the electronic tellers of Russia's state-run Sberbank can tell if patrons are talking truth or hogwash in applying for a credit card or loan -- an anti-fraud weapon with roots in the old Soviet Union.

The nation's biggest bailed-out banks have unintentionally entered a new line of work: slumlording. In some cases, major banks have created whole neighborhoods of abandoned and deteriorating foreclosure properties -- and a blight on local municipalities.

Capital One's credit card charge-off rate -- the percentage of debt that it's unable to collect -- fell to 4.97% in April. That's the lowest default rate for the company since 2007. See why there might be some upside potential for the stock.

When the Credit CARD Act of 2009 was enacted, the goal was to make credit cards safer for people, but banks have found a loophole. Those consumer protections weren't extended to cards designated for business or commercial use, and as a result, millions of American households are at risk from the same unfair bank practices as before.

The cat and mouse game continues. Americans are beginning to reap more of the benefits of 2009's landmark credit card protection legislation, the CARD Act, even as some banks continue to add fees. The Act ordered banks to review credit card customers' files to determine if their interest rates...

HSBC announced late last month that it had put all of its U.S. foreclosures on hold to review their documents -- back in December. So why are its lawyers still pushing cases ahead? HSBC also says it doesn't robo-sign. So why does its annual report mention foreclosure document problems that sound so much like those caused by robo-signing?

HSBC got plenty of attention when it disclosed that it had suspended foreclosures in its annual report Monday. But its not the only bank whose annual report made for interesting reading. The risk disclosures in banks' annual reports shed some light on their attitudes toward the mortgage mess.