The retailer is funding a challenger bank called One that would be formed from the combination of several fintech firms. The startup would have a strong product set and cash position but could struggle to stand out in a crowded neobank field.

The recent increase in online payments, whether through shopping or government disbursements, has created more openings for fraud. Companies and government agencies in Europe are trying to combat the problem by developing digital ID systems.

Cash is being used in fewer transactions than ever before, and the pandemic has only accelerated the trend. Yet the U.S. is far behind some European and Asian countries in embracing digital payments and significant hurdles remain to its becoming completely cashless.

The Spanish bank introduced the installment product in Germany nine months ago, and is planning to bring it to 18 European markets this year.

JPMorgan Chase's recent purchase of a stake in the Greek fintech will allow the U.S. company to offer new services like merchant credit in Europe, where it is No. 5 among merchant acquirers.

The North Carolina company will also eliminate nonsufficient-funds fees as it aims to keep pace with larger rivals, including Bank of America, that have revised their overdraft policies.

The expenses jumped 33% last quarter, which was generally in line with trends elsewhere in the credit card industry. The battle for new customers is “intense,” CEO Richard Fairbank told analysts.

Acquiring the earned-wage-access firm and challenger bank would further efforts by the retailer and its partners to develop a "super app" featuring mobile financial tools.

Goldsmith, the grandson of City National Bank’s co-founder, is set to retire as its chairman. In an interview, he betrayed no regrets about the company’s sale to Royal Bank of Canada, which was propelled by a similar logic about the need for scale that drives many deals today.

After regulators signaled their intention to crack down on banks that lean on the controversial charges, First National Bank Texas adopted a reform. A bank spokesperson said the move was unrelated to any pressure from Washington.

The Pennsylvania bank is working with the data provider Enigma and Capital One on a platform they are hoping other banks will use. The technology handles all aspects of the loans and provides data and analytics on borrowers.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is in the early stages of developing a rule that could give bank customers far more say in how their information is being accessed by fintechs and data aggregators. What the final rule looks like will depend on how much consumers already know about the way their data is collected, stored and sold.

The Florida company spent nearly $7 million in the fourth quarter on the payouts, which were made in recognition of work done during the pandemic.

Switching from a horizontal layout — a relic of embossed account numbers — is an attempt by issuers like HSBC, Starling Bank and Bank of America to address accessibility challenges faced by customers with dementia, visual impairments and other conditions.

A few months ago bankers were more hopeful than confident about an end to depressed demand for business credit. Now CEOs at Huntington, Fifth Third, Mercantile Bank and other companies are touting strong fourth-quarter loan growth, burgeoning pipelines and local job creation as reasons for optimism.

The Alabama company continues to explore buyouts of add-on businesses, part of a strategy that has already helped recoup dollars lost as a result of reforms to its overdraft practices.

Fourth-quarter profits rose 10% at the Cleveland company as investment banking income hit a record and nonperforming loans plummeted. Executives say charge-offs will probably start rising in late 2022 but that fee income from capital markets transactions will keep growing.

Executives predict a 5% to 6% bump in lending this year, and they also say they'd be comfortable if up to a third of the Cincinnati company's excess cash migrates away.

The Tennessee bank reported an uptick in commercial lending during the fourth quarter. Executives pointed to the impact of a 2020 acquisition that allowed First Horizon to bulk up in in Florida, Georgia and Louisiana.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has opened an inquiry into whether the largest issuers are engaging in unfair or anti-competitive practices. JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and the rest of the top eight control 70% of the $1 trillion credit card market.