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.
-
While red states like Florida have embraced the cryptocurrency industry, officials in New York and Illinois are taking action on Democratic Party priorities such as diversity and climate change. Here's a look at some hotbeds of innovative policymaking.
May 18 -
The new service, which will offer one-on-one advice, is open to people with at least $100,000 in investable assets. It’s part of the company’s ongoing efforts to build a full suite of retail banking products.
By Polo RochaMay 18 -
A hearing on the pending BMO-Bank of the West merger will be held in July, and another on TD's proposed acquisition of First Horizon is set for August. The announcements indicate that regulators have decided to hold such hearings more often.
By Polo RochaMay 17 -
A 2019 state law limits annual interest rates on many loans to 36%, but some high-cost lenders have found a way to continue operating in California by partnering with banks. Now Democratic legislators want the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to take action.
By Polo RochaMay 16 -
The former JPMorgan Chase executive will will replace Jim Hays, who is retiring.
By Polo RochaMay 13 -
The Federal Reserve’s forceful moves to fight inflation are resetting expectations about how quickly banks will need to start raising their deposit rates.
By Polo RochaMay 13 -
The San Francisco-based online lender originated more than $2 billion in personal loans during the first quarter, a big jump from a year earlier. The surge made up for softness in the company's home loan and student loan businesses.
By Polo RochaMay 11 -
Roughly 24,000 people had new foreclosures listed on their credit reports in the first quarter, up from about 9,000 three months earlier, a Federal Reserve Bank of New York report says. States are trying to cushion the blow on homeowners now that many pandemic-related federal protections have ended.
By Polo RochaMay 10 -
A cannabis-related company said it has secured a $60 million credit facility backed partly by East West Bank. The California-based regional bank is moving into a realm once dominated by small banks, credit unions and more expensive nonbank lenders.
By Polo RochaMay 5 -
The chances of an economic slowdown are rising as the Federal Reserve is poised to take further steps to tame inflation, say the heads of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley.
By Polo RochaMay 4 -
Johnson, who currently heads a housing-finance industry group, will take over this summer from longtime president and CEO Richard Hunt.
By Polo RochaMay 3 -
During the pandemic, consumer lenders have found it easier to collect payments because the federal student loan moratorium has made many borrowers more liquid. A plan for blanket forgiveness reportedly under consideration by President Biden could sustain that trend.
By Polo RochaMay 3 -
Analysts were expecting Capital One’s marketing spending to slow significantly after it surged to nearly $1 billion at the end of the year.
By Polo RochaApril 27 -
The first-of-their-kind measures, urging banks to move more aggressively to curtail new fossil-fuel lending, garnered between 11% and 13% of the vote at Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo. Those totals were less than climate activists had hoped to garner, but high enough to clear certain thresholds for resubmission next year.
April 26 -
More than two years into the pandemic, banks hit several turning points during the first quarter. On the positive side, commercial loan growth finally materialized, but there were also snags, particularly in fee income.
April 25 -
The Wisconsin company is the latest bank to plan cutbacks in the fees. Its fee income is projected to fall by about 2% from its level last quarter.
By Polo RochaApril 22 -
A sell-off of technology stocks this year has helped dissuade firms from going public. But Silicon Valley Bank’s parent company, which counts many tech firms among its clients, says the pullback hasn’t spread to smaller startups and the venture-capital funds that finance them.
By Polo RochaApril 22 -
The New York bank is planning a broad launch of its new checking account later this year. Starting this week, more than 20,000 Goldman employees have a chance to try it out.
By Polo RochaApril 21 -
U.S. Bancorp and Wells Fargo both reported robust business loan volumes during the first quarter, while other large lenders reported smaller gains. Inflation is fueling more spending on technology, and companies are catching up on capital expenditures that they deferred earlier in the pandemic, according to bank executives.
By Polo Rocha and Jim DobbsApril 14 -
California and New York were the first states to require the disclosure of certain pricing information to small-business borrowers. But as Utah, Virginia and other states add regulations for nonbank lenders, a fault line has emerged over the use of annual percentage rates.
By Polo RochaApril 12




















