Polo Rocha

Like other mortgage lenders, the San Francisco megabank has been cutting staff since refinancing volumes started to fall. Additional layoffs are expected over the next couple of quarters, according to the bank’s chief financial officer.

Several groups raised concerns at a public hearing about the Canadian bank’s proposed acquisition of Bank of the West. They accused BMO of shortcomings in its mortgage lending to Black and Latino borrowers and said they won’t support the deal without the bank's firm commitment to help underserved communities.

Consumers are feeling less confident about their economic prospects, and investors worry their loan repayments will slow. Those fears have led to large drops in stock prices for consumer finance companies, particularly for those who lend to borrowers with lower credit scores.

Analysts are not yet sounding the recession alarm, but investors and others will comb banks’ quarterly results for signs of stress in these particular areas that could translate into full-blown problems in the second half.

Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf hired Mike Weinbach in 2020 as part of a broader organizational shake-up. The former JPMorgan Chase executive is leaving in mid-September as the consumer lending group transitions to a new leader.

The online consumer lender touts its AI-based underwriting models as a key strength, but analysts say larger-than-expected losses on some of its loans are contributing to funding pressures.

Truist Financial is raising the low end of its pay scale to $22 an hour, while JPMorgan Chase is implementing a floor of between $20 and $25. The wage hikes will likely put pressure on smaller banks to take similar steps to stay competitive.

Dermot McDonogh will be the custody bank's chief financial officer, as incoming CEO Robin Vince starts making his mark. The two each spent more than two decades at Goldman Sachs.

The Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hikes are leading corporate clients to demand higher deposit rates, according to industry consultants. Some banks are better positioned than others to weather the changing landscape.

The retail giant ignored fraudsters’ use of its money transfers in consumer scams that cost victims hundreds of millions of dollars, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Walmart called the agency’s lawsuit “factually flawed and legally baseless.”

The two megabanks said that their capital requirements will rise in the wake of Federal Reserve stress tests, putting downward pressure on their distributions to shareholders. Meanwhile, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and others announced plans to raise their dividends.

Wells Fargo has historically underperformed its competitors in the credit card business. The Autograph card, which offers triple points for travel, dining and gas, is part of CEO Charlie Scharf’s effort to compete more effectively.

JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo joined Citigroup in pledging to expand benefits to cover travel for out-of-state abortions. Smaller banks in blue states were more vocal, with one female CEO saying: “I stand in disbelief.”

JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo will account for more than $2 billion of the lost revenue, according to a new report from The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Missed payments are rising among nonprime credits as higher prices on other goods leave consumers with less money to pay back their car and truck loans. The uptick may be a sign that the stellar credit environment for lenders is starting to turn.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is scrutinizing “rent-a-bank schemes” that charge borrowers high interest rates, the agency’s deputy director said Wednesday. Consumer advocates have long pushed for limits on such partnerships between banks and nonbank lenders.

The rules, which come almost four years after California lawmakers passed a landmark disclosure law, require lenders to inform borrowers about annual percentage rates. Some lenders have pushed back, arguing that APRs don’t make sense for certain types of financing.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are investigating the bank over allegations that it conducted so-called fake interviews with nonwhite and female job applicants, The New York Times reported Thursday.

The American Bankers Association’s credit conditions index fell sharply, as economists foresaw dampening loan demand. The weaker outlook lines up with major bank CEOs’ increased worries over a possible recession.

The prepaid card issuer has now paid a total of $18 million to Republic Bank & Trust, which sued after Green Dot's purchase of its tax-refund business unraveled.