Banco Santander's bid to buy U.S. regional bank Webster Financial could face surprise challenges following a dustup between President Trump and Spain's leaders over the war in Iran.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency finalized rules rescinding fair housing data requirements and expanding speedy licensing for banks under $30B in assets as part of Comptroller Jonathan Gould's push for more risk-based supervision.

Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott, R-S.C., told reporters that community banking didn't fit into the housing package moving forward in the upper chamber, but that he's in discussions with House leaders and the White House to move a separate financial services package.

Experts say that compliance with a potential executive order being considered by the White House that would require banks to collect citizenship information would be costly, especially for community banks.

As the Trump administration limits access to only U.S. citizens, volume in the Small Business Administration's flagship loan program is already trailing the 2025 pace. Experts predict that the tighter eligibility criteria will send more loans to nonbanks.

Charles "Chuck" Parcher will replace Dennis Shaffer as president and CEO of the Sandusky, Ohio-based community bank. Shaffer is set to retire in late August.

Fulton Financial received the necessary approvals to acquire Blue Foundry Bancorp; JPMorgan hired two Bank of America health care veterans while shuffling leadership; Mizuho Financial Group has plans to replace about 5,000 administrative jobs with artificial intelligence over the next 10 years; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

Preferred Bank moved a $115 million block of loans to nonaccrual status after the borrower, which is battling fraud charges leveled by other banks, began missing payments.

The threats posed by financial criminals, from fraudsters to money launderers, are evolving at a pace that far outstrips the education of bankers charged with combating them. That needs to change.

Decisions about the kind of blockchains to use in rolling out banking products creates future path dependencies. It's important that banks get this decision right.

The Brazilian neobank attributed a Q4 boost in its credit portfolio to its AI-powered underwriting tool, but expenses caused it to miss Wall Street estimates.

Acquiring the $386 million-asset Pacific West Bancorp extends a strengthening bull market for bank M&A.

After completing a migration to its proprietary tech stack, Chime is setting its sights on GAAP profitability in 2026 following a strong fourth quarter.

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.