Polo Rocha is a Washington D.C.-based reporter who covers 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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Banks locked in funding by offering more enticing rates on certificates of deposit last quarter, but rebuilding liquidity came at a cost. Competition isn't dying down either, with a couple of credit unions floating 6% CD rates.
August 1 -
The San Francisco company's student loan business suffered from the moratorium on federal borrowers' loans. But executives see a rebound ahead despite high interest rates dampening appetite for refinancing.
July 31 -
Stock markets have shot up as investors grow hopeful that the United States will avoid a recession. But nearly 3 in 4 community bankers are less optimistic that the Fed will achieve its mission of reducing inflation without causing a downturn, a survey from IntraFi found.
July 26 -
Credit metrics are deteriorating as more cardholders fall behind on their payments. But bank CEOs detect few causes for alarm, saying they plan to stay in growth mode since most consumers have stayed current.
July 24 -
Stock prices of banks on this annual list of top performers with at least $50 billion of assets have fallen with the rest of the industry's shares. Executives say their strong fundamentals will win over doubters.
July 23 -
The Phoenix bank was one of the institutions hit hardest in this spring's banking crisis, but deposits rebounded in the second quarter. The bank's earnings results were what "we were all hoping for," one analyst said, sending its stock up 8%.
July 19 -
Some credit unions and banks are taking a step back from the U.S. auto lending market, but Ally CEO Jeffrey Brown said the overall sector remains healthy. Though credit is weakening, the loans that the company is making are bringing large returns.
July 19 -
U.S. regulators are examining how consumers finance health care spending, looking at practices used by Synchrony Financial's CareCredit unit and its competitors. But Synchrony CEO Brian Doubles said he's "very proud" of CareCredit, while downplaying the unit's involvement in the medical sector.
July 18 -
The bank's allowance for losses on commercial real estate loans jumped to $3.6 billion in the second quarter — up 64% from a year earlier. The negative forecast could portend trouble for smaller banks that have bigger exposure to the office sector.
July 14 -
The lawsuit against Prehired involves a relatively new product that consumer advocates say is akin to a student loan — and should be subject to far more protections.
July 13
