Willamette Valley Bank cited consumer shifts to nonbanks and stubborn interest rates behind the decision, joining a line of institutions to exit since 2025.

Noelle Acheson argues that stablecoins can help community banks deepen relationships with their customers, help them explore new forms of capital formation and strengthen their own exposure to risk.

At an investor day in London, Banco Santander executives laid out the Spanish company's new financial goals, including a goal to improve a key profitability metric in the U.S. The pending acquisition of Webster Financial in Connecticut is part of the strategy to achieve higher returns, they said.

A negative work environment with unhappy employees is going to adversely impact the customer experience, even when employees don't voice their dissatisfaction out loud. Bank managers need to create a positive culture.

The payments firm wants to issue a stablecoin called PAYO-USD, joining a wave of digital asset companies seeking federal bank charters.

Banks that have more than $50 billion of assets but are smaller than the megabanks scored the lowest on customer satisfaction, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index's 2026 finance study. The industry's overall score remained stable.

The headlong rush to apply AI to all sorts of internal systems runs the risk of damaging consumer trust in the industry. Banks should look to their history and be deliberate about how they integrate AI into their systems.

The investors agreed to buy 499 million shares of Citi's Mexican retail unit for around $2.5 billion. The sale was at a small premium to the initial stake the megabank sold to Mexican billionaire Fernando Chico Pardo last year. 

A written agreement between Kentucky First Federal Bancorp and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency was terminated in 20 months, less than half the time that management feared it might take.

Banc of California appoints Chris Healy its new executive director and head of payments; Lia Fordjour is named chief financial officer of the American Bankers Association; Airwallex is the latest fintech to lean on sports sponsorships; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

The New York City-based lender, whose roots lie in taxi lending, believes an expanded home-improvement loan operation will generate mid-teen loan growth this year.

Lenders with between $10 billion and $100 billion of assets grew their core deposits by more than 8% last year, or more than double the industry-wide average. Merger activity was largely responsible for the outsized growth.

The Olympics are boosting spending in Italy, large-in-part thanks to Americans. In the U.K., Barclays is reportedly leading a meeting to seek support for an existing project. The meeting comes against the backdrop of geopolitical concerns and the dominance of American-based payment firms.

Beneficial State Bank in Oakland has reached a three-year agreement with the Communications Workers of America. The deal follows a groundbreaking union pact the bank signed in 2021.

Doubling down on what has worked in the past — especially if it's still working now — may inadvertently trap banks into business models ill-suited for the future. Smart bankers make room for change before it is forced on them.

Financial fraud in the U.S. has become so sophisticated that it now has its own internal economy, complete with supply chains and customer service. Banks need to wake up to the reality that the landscape has changed.

First National Corp. in Virginia announced the sale of its two North Carolina branches. Meanwhile, a number of larger competitors are laying plans for growth in the Carolinas.

Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Katie Britt, R-Ala., offered a new bill that would index the Durbin Amendment's debit fee threshold to inflation. The bill joins a number of community bank-centered bills offered or moving through Congress

The Southeast Asian financial services company acquired micro-investing fintech Stash and earned a yearly profit for the first time in its 2025 earnings report.

How are regional banks handling the uncertainty of interest rates, tariffs, and business sentiment? Jones discusses how his bank is navigating the storm.