Citigroup posted third-quarter profit that beat analysts' estimates as bond-trading revenue surged 35% from a year earlier, helped by interest-rate and currencies trading.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and our social media platforms.

Third-quarter profit at PNC Financial Services Group in Pittsburgh declined on a yearly basis as a higher tax rate and increased expenses ate into improved revenue in both lending and fee-based products.

If people can send e-mails and other data instantly to others, the ability to do the same with payments shouldn’t be far behind.

Some analysts are suggesting Wells Fargo should start closing branches, in order to move beyond the phony-accounts scandal, make up for an expected drop in fee income from reduced cross-selling — and position itself for a digital future.

California Bank of Commerce in Lafayette has hired a veteran credit administrator to help expand its small-business lending.

Goldman Sachs' newly launched consumer lending website is aimed at some of the very same customers that big banks and marketplace lenders covet, yet there are plenty of questions about its business plan, its ability to manage credit risk and the prospects of online lenders in general.

A nearly double-digit increase in net interest income helped third-quarter profit increase by 12.9% at VSB Bancorp in New York.

West Town Bancorp in Illinois has revved up its government-backed lending to small businesses, making it a good example of how community banks can outhustle big lenders in the quest for new sources of fee income.

As Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continue to experiment with upfront risk-sharing deals, some small mortgage lenders fear they will be left out of the action.

SVB Financial and Mastercard have accepted six startups for the fifth installment of their accelerator, Commerce.Innovated.

Remember how last year's shutdown of the Small Business Administration's flagship loan-guarantee program prompted Congress to provide more funding? SBA made every penny count in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, backing 64,073 loans for a record $24.1 billion — a 2% increase.

Without investigations by the Los Angeles Times and city prosecutors, the Wells Fargo account scandal would never have come to light. Where were federal regulators?

To help ensure that women are included in digital banking's future, we must reach girls and young women at an earlier age than their college years to equip them with the IT tools they need to succeed in tomorrow's workforce.

It's official: Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street investment banking titan, now offers consumer loans.

The new CEO has vowed to clean up the sales practices that tarnished the bank's reputation and cost John Stumpf his job. But skeptics from Wall Street to Capitol Hill say Sloan, too, was "culpable" in the phony account-opening scandal and that only an outsider can fix what ails the nation's third-largest bank.

In states with strict rules on small-dollar loans, lenders could see an opening in the language of the CFPB rule to actually hike rates, observers say.

Hingham Institution for Savings in Massachusetts said a double-digit spike in lending contributed to a strong third quarter.

The change at the top of the No. 3 U.S. bank by assets after a snowballing phony-accounts scandal marks the rare case of a major U.S. bank CEO resigning amid accusations of company misconduct. His successor, Tim Sloan, faces a hard road to recovery.

Heightened regulatory scrutiny, stricter credit-quality reviews by buyers themselves, cautiousness over systems conversions and other factors have added about three weeks to deal closings in recent years. There are inherent risks in that trend and ways to minimize them.