MADISON, Wis. - (01/03/04) -- Several credit unions are workingwith state officials to offer their low-income members analternative to costly tax refund loans, also known as refundanticipation loans. With tax refund loans taxpayers can obtainloans for the anticipated amount of their tax refund in one or twodays. But by using electronic filing available through a stateprogram, workers could receive the entire amount of their refundalmost as fast, in three to five days, with the costly fees thattypically accompany tax refund loans. Officials with the state'sDepartment of Revenue have joined with the Wisconsin CU League tohelp taxpayers open accounts where tax refunds could be directlydeposited, giving the needy consumers rapid access to theirrefunds. The partnership could also help introduce those unbankedto mainstream financial services. The league is acting as a liaisonwith state officials and referring interested credit unions to therevenue department.
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Synovus Financial demonstrated at an industry conference how it is using Microsoft's Copilot to help its staff address customers' concerns.
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The U.S. arm of Spanish banking giant Santander has hired Swati Bhatia to oversee retail banking and its digital transformation efforts. Bhatia joins at "an inflection point" for the company, which aims to be "a digital bank with branches," CEO Tim Wennes said.
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Mariya Rosberg is named Americas head of banking and financial services at Marsh McLennan's Oliver Wyman unit; startup ZayZoon raised $15 million in a new funding round; and more in the weekly banking news roundup.
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Last year, the Raleigh, N.C.-based Integrated called off a deal to sell itself to MVB Financial after bank stocks took a hit in the aftermath of the regional bank failures. Capital hopes to expand its government-guaranteed lending with the transaction.
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Once a prominent figure spurring financial institutions to engage in cryptocurrency, Bankman-Fried's downslide began with the collapse of the digital asset exchange FTX in late 2022 and hit rock bottom with his sentencing to 25 years in prison.
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But the 30-year fixed rate mortgage is still near 7%, and that remains the overhang on the housing market, Freddie Mac said.
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