The key for bankers to stay safe from mystery shoppers using aggressive techniques — many of whom are well funded by community investment pacts with megabanks — is to adhere to proper lending practices 24/7.

Metaverse aversion, car chargers at Chase branches and more in banking news this week.

The Cincinnati bank is joining other large and regional banks in scrapping nonsufficients-fund fees. The move comes amid continued regulatory pressure on the industry to curtail overdraft fees and related charges.

A group of state attorneys general is asking JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and U.S. Bancorp to scrap the controversial charges entirely, as competitors like Citigroup and Capital One have done. The four banks targeted have all announced significant changes that will likely reduce their overdraft revenue.

The benefits Alabama One Credit Union is seeing from a migration from MPLS to SD-WAN networking help explain why other financial institutions are making the same change or have it on their road maps.

The Philadelphia bank, headed by Vernon Hill, is already fighting two lawsuits from activist shareholder groups. It also risks being delisted by NASDAQ for indefinitely postponing the meeting.

Vocal in their opposition to some restrictive state laws in recent years, most institutions are silent on similar laws being pursued today. Why?

Citigroup agreed to sell its consumer banking operations in Bahrain to Ahli United Bank BSC as part of the lender’s continued push to simplify.

Institutions are hiring aggressively or buying up competitors to take part in an equipment finance boom as the economy continues to heal.

On Dec. 31, 2021. Dollars in thousands.

Increased interest income would boost banks’ lending profitability, but inflation and mounting expenses, along with the specter of potential recession, loom large.

Democrats at a hearing on Capitol Hill contended overdraft fees hurt low-income consumers and should be reined in — with Rep. Maxine Waters proposing to make larger banks offer an account without such charges. Yet Republicans said eliminating the fees would drive some consumers toward predatory lenders and away from small banks.

Apple is developing its own payment processing technology and infrastructure for future financial products, part of an ambitious effort that would reduce its reliance on outside partners over time, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Moves by bank lobbyists to try to restrict credit union-bank mergers could wind up depriving many consumers of needed financial services.

Citigroup agreed to sell its India retail banking business for about 123 billion rupees ($1.6 billion) cash to Axis Bank, as the U.S. lender seeks to consolidate its operations in identified markets.

The $168 million deal would mark the third acquisition of 2022 for Seacoast and continue a years-long effort to bulk up via M&A.

Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., is accusing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau of pressuring Equifax, Experian and Transunion into removing most medical debt from credit reports, a move he says would compromise lenders' ability to gauge risk. Democrats, experts who testified at a hearing Tuesday and the CFPB pushed back.

The acquisitive Massachusetts company said it would pay $146.5 million to acquire Randolph and its $800 million-asset subsidiary, Envision Bank.

The pace of deal activity in 2022 is far lighter than it was a year earlier. "Going forward as an industry, we're going to be more selective because of the elongated approval process,” said Jim Ryan III, CEO of Old National Bancorp. Additionally, rising interest rates have led sellers to demand bigger payouts.