Polo Rocha is a Mexico-based freelance reporter who worked at American Banker from 2021 to early 2025, covering consumer finance and national banking trends. He previously covered the Federal Reserve at S&P Global Market Intelligence and state politics at WisPolitics.com. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has a master's in finance degree from Johns Hopkins University.
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The credit card company has been seeing late payments and charge-offs jump following the stellar credit trends of the pandemic. But there were signs last quarter that the picture has started to stabilize.
By Polo RochaOctober 27 -
Charge-offs at the Detroit-based lender rose last quarter, as borrowers had a tougher time keeping up with their car payments. But so far, credit quality is staying within expectations, and company executives don't anticipate that the rest of the year will be much worse.
By Polo RochaOctober 18 -
Goldman Sachs said that its partnerships with Apple and General Motors are hard to exit in the short term. So the investment banking giant is concentrating on making the deals profitable, even as it acknowledges that they may not be a long-term fit.
By Polo RochaOctober 17 -
It's been a rocky few years for senior housing as the sector recovers from its COVID occupancy drop and its profitability takes a hit. But bankers see long-term opportunities amid an aging U.S. population and say their portfolios are healthy.
By Polo RochaOctober 16 -
Net interest income rose sharply at Wells Fargo and especially JPMorgan Chase last quarter, thanks to lighter-than-expected deposit costs. But questions linger about how long both companies can keep a lid on those expenses and whether smaller competitors can do the same.
October 13 -
Jeffrey Brown, who's been Ally Financial's top executive for nearly nine years, plans to leave the company by early next year. His exit comes as deteriorating credit quality and rising interest rates are biting into Ally's profits.
By Polo RochaOctober 11 -
Brown, who's been Ally Financial's top executive for nearly nine years, joined the company 14 years ago and played a key role in reshaping it after the financial crisis. He will become the president of a large auto dealer group.
By Polo RochaOctober 11 -
Camino Financial and Fundation, which are combining, serve distinct slices of the small business market. The deal's architects say it will enable the combined firm to provide more financing options to entrepreneurs, and they argue that now is a good time to lean into small business lending.
By Polo RochaSeptember 28 -
Novosel, who leads PNC Financial Services's commercial bank, spent a lot more time talking to clients about PNC's financial footing when the banking crisis hit this spring.
By Polo RochaSeptember 27 -
Before being tapped as the head of Wells Fargo's auto division, Sanders was head of its auto transformation team.
By Polo RochaSeptember 27 -
Bankers often use return on equity to measure their success, but the banks whose stock prices have suffered most during past crises are the ones with high ROEs, according to new research. The findings add to academic skepticism about high-profit banks.
By Polo RochaSeptember 26 -
Thomas Nides, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel and longtime Morgan Stanley executive, will take over the megabank's public affairs division as its work to fix regulatory concerns continues. He succeeds Bill Daley, the former chief of staff to President Barack Obama, who recently announced his retirement from Wells.
By Polo RochaSeptember 22 -
Dawson Her Many Horses, a commercial banker at Wells Fargo, is a pivotal player in an effort among tribal leaders, the federal government and the private sector to improve the availability of economic data about Native American communities to encourage outside investment there.
By Polo RochaSeptember 19 -
A handful of banks concentrated in the Southeast U.S. are facing elevated charge-offs amid the liquidation of Mountain Express Oil. First Horizon Corp., which led a syndicated loan of more than $200 million to the bankrupt company, expects to take a $70 million hit.
By Polo RochaSeptember 13 -
Concerns about large unrealized losses on bond investments have receded since the spring banking crisis, but the paper losses have started growing again in recent months. The worries today are less about banks' survival — and more about how much their margins will get squeezed.
By Polo RochaSeptember 12 -
When 55 banks were asked to provide metrics on the health of their commercial real estate borrowers, some of them gave data that was six months old. The survey by Moody's Investors Service also found that certain borrowers are already struggling, and others could hit trouble soon, since they'll need to refinance at high interest rates.
By Polo RochaSeptember 7 -
The consumer lender's stock price has fallen more than 30% since its disclosure of a looming regulatory action, which was followed by the sudden departure of its CEO. To help meet its compliance challenges, the company's board added a former FDIC regional director.
By Polo RochaSeptember 6 -
Bank customers who overdraw their accounts now face an average fee of $26.61, which is down from a peak of $33.58 in 2021. Consumer advocates contend that tougher regulations are needed to sustain the momentum, while industry groups argue that bank-led innovations are working.
By Polo RochaAugust 31 -
The regional bank's stock price is down 38% this year, and it recently got downgraded by S&P Global. While there's light at the end of the tunnel — as Key looks to rebound from the negative impact of soaring interest rates — analysts question whether the improvement will take too long to materialize.
By Polo RochaAugust 28 -
The company is paying $75 million in penalties and restitution in connection with SEC allegations that its investment advisory arm overcharged customers it inherited in its Wachovia acquisition in 2008. The settlement is said to show the importance of conducting extensive compliance checks in a rapidly consolidating industry.
By Polo RochaAugust 25




















