Laura Alix

Some investors fear BBVA is taking a big risk by getting into unsecured personal lending long after online lenders have established themselves, but bank officials argue the bank’s cost of funds and in-depth knowledge of its customers will help it to outdo the competition.

The company has agreed to acquire Bank of Rio Vista to expand its operations in central California.

Only North Dakota has its own state-owned bank, but policymakers in other states say more public banks are necessary to fully meet society's needs. Among those who proponents say would benefit the most: small-business owners and legal marijuana suppliers and distributors.

Behavioral biometrics are attractive because they are easy to implement, hard for criminals to spoof and not subject to the same privacy protections applied to thumbprints or retina scans.

The Portland, Ore., company has hired four private bankers from City National as part of a broader effort to provide a full range of services to business owners and high-net-worth households in Orange County and San Diego.

The bank, which has branches in eight states and operates a nationwide real estate business, said that the proposed new name, Bank OZK, would better reflect its geographic reach.

The online giant has succeeded in disrupting every area of retail, but in banking it faces a high barrier to entry and fierce determination from banks like Citizens Financial and Bank of the West to keep upping their games.

Despite past missteps in the U.S. mortgage business, the bank is giving it another go, bringing servicing in-house and catering to millennials and international clients here, says HSBC’s Raman Muralidharan.

With interest rates rising, corporate tax rates declining and regulatory relief likely on the way, now is actually a pretty good time to be a bank. That could be why sellers are holding out for more.

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.