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Smaller banks are often not taking the extra step beyond traditional functions such as online bill pay, writes Alberto Hernandez, COO for the U.S. region at Valid.

Branches are closing at the fastest pace in years, and keeping them relevant to customers is a problem banks are being forced to solve in ever more creative ways.

Many banks have already scaled back home lending or even left the business. With profit margins shrinking, inventories of homes at crisis levels and competition from nonbanks intensifying, that’s unlikely to change.

Ronald Rubin was asked by the state’s chief financial officer to resign after a review of an inspector general’s report detailed allegations of sexual harassment. Instead, Rubin is countering with accusations against the CFO.

Banks and governments around the world have invested in systems that seek to instantly transfer money between accounts, moves that could put pressure on the sprawling debit card business at the world’s largest payments network. But Visa Inc. Chief Executive Al Kelly isn’t too worried.

Wider net interest margins compared to a year earlier helped make up for a slight decline in loan balances, as nearly two-thirds of banks reported higher profits in the first quarter.

The scandal-plagued bank announced Wednesday that it is adding a board member with deep experience in accounting. It is also considering a switch to flat pricing in indirect auto lending, a change long favored by consumer advocates.

Speaking at a conference on Wednesday, CFO Howell McCullough mostly ruled out a merger of equals as a growth strategy for the $108 billion-asset Huntington.

ChargeAfter, a startup that matches retail customers with financing options at the point of sale from various lenders, has raised $8 million in its first major funding round.

Purpose Financial has agreed to purchase CreditGenie Inc. as payment companies face pressure to offer point of sale financing.