The average rate on variable-rate cards rose above 18% this week, the highest level since 1996, according to data from Bankrate.com. The industry has been enjoying large profits, which has caught the attention of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

South End Capital, a division of Stearns Bank in Minnesota, is touting a nationwide Small Business Administration small-dollar loan product that can provide funding within days, perhaps hours. It's one of several recent small-dollar SBA lending initiatives now being offered by banks.

The average turnover rate has risen to 23% this year from about 16% in 2021, according to a Crowe Global survey of more than 400 banks. Raises and more generous benefits aren't enough to keep workers, the firm warns.

Financial downturns hit lower-wealth communities first and cause them to suffer the longest.

Earlier this year, canvassers visited branches in five California counties to ask about account options. Some 37% of those who spoke Spanish were unable to talk to a banker, compared with 15% of English speakers, according to a report by the Roosevelt Institute.

Veritex Holdings announced that its deal to buy interLINK has been terminated by the seller's parent, StoneCastle Partners in New York. No reason was given, though Veritex says regulatory pushback was not to blame.

Singapore country head Shee Tse Koon describes the bank's push to create a massive marketplace that offers everything from hotel reservations to health care.

Bank of America is facing off in court with the bond insurer Ambac Financial Group in a $2.7 billion case that's one of its last legal hangovers from the subprime crisis.

The bank received 341 technology patents in the first half of the year and says it has more patents than any other financial services company. However, executives have acknowledged that they aren't all usable.

The credit-cards-as-a-service model allows small banks to develop more products — and keep more revenue — than they had when working with agent banks.

After the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency cracked down on a $2.8 billion-asset bank, industry observers expect more scrutiny of the ties between banks and financial technology startups.

Technology designed to direct more consumers online can create difficulties for groups that rely on branches and other in-person services, according to Janis Bowdler, a racial equity counselor with the Treasury Department.

Banks make up just 10% of the client base for Eltropy, which hopes to increase that number through two tech acquisitions that add video banking and artificial intelligence capabilities.

Citigroup joined rivals in trimming the ranks of its mortgage workforce as rising interest rates continue to crimp demand in the housing market. 

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and his New York counterpart, Letitia James, urged the CEOs of Visa, Mastercard and American Express to create a merchant category code for guns and ammunition stores. They argued that "all options must be on the table to remedy" the "scourge of gun violence" in the United States.

Amid flooding and a lack of drinking water, Regions Financial announced a slate of fee waivers and loan deferrals, alongside a donation to a local United Way. Cadence Bank is supplying fresh water to ensure it can keep its doors open.

With taxpayer dollars and creative deals, these nonprofit funding institutions can help recruit private-sector capital off the sidelines and into underserved markets, leveraging as much as $8 in private funding for every $1 that comes from the government.

The reduction in banks' assessments marks the fourth time in four years that the OCC has cut the semiannual regulatory fees that fund supervisory work.