Finance

Many banks tapped the brakes on mergers and acquisitions this year amid economic and regulatory challenges. But executives at banks with a history of dealmaking say conditions could be right for them to return to buying mode next year.

Taking the reins again as chief executive of Block following the recent departure of CEO Alyssa Henry, Jack Dorsey has launched internal changes to jump-start growth, eliminate silos and promote the use of artificial intelligence.

Financing buyouts with "payment-in-kind" loans can preserve cash, but cost more; banks are losing out to private lenders on some of these deals.

Alex Chriss, the new chief executive, says the firm aims to reverse its stock slump by assessing its business to favor its best-performing products.

Citing the need to conserve capital, Blue Ridge Bankshares indefinitely extended a dividend suspension that it announced in July. The bank remains well-capitalized, but it saw its ratios shrink in the third quarter.

The island state's biggest banks — which reported lower profits in the third quarter — say it is too soon to fully assess the economic fallout from the deadly August wildfires. The rebuilding effort could boost near-term deposit growth and long-term loan demand, they said.

Charlie, a neobank marketed to people 62+, and Carefull, which partners with financial institutions, recently raised their Series A's. A third, called EverSafe, is embarking on its first fundraise.

The neobank is also benefiting from its product diversity.

The San Antonio bank reported a 14% increase in noninterest expenses and a 7% jump in loans. "We're not trying to be successful by shrinking," said CEO Phil Green.

The credit card company has been seeing late payments and charge-offs jump following the stellar credit trends of the pandemic. But there were signs last quarter that the picture has started to stabilize.

Large language models were a big part of the discussion during the company's earnings call on Thursday.

Even though it is less than two years since it allowed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to accept such valuations, it is difficult to evaluate their effectiveness without such examinations.

Both loans and deposit balances have stabilized since the North Carolina bank acquired parts of the failed Silicon Valley Bank, paving the way for better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings guidance. The only blemish in the third quarter, one analyst said, was credit quality.

CEO Scott Sanborn said it's unclear when demand from banks to buy the fintech's loans will return.

The Hicksville, New York, company beat analysts' expectations on net interest income, but a pair of souring office loans contributed to a 68% increase in nonperforming loans from the prior quarter.

The student loan servicer said that it's open to settling a high-stakes lawsuit filed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau during the Obama administration. It recorded a $45 million charge and said that the range of reasonably possible losses is between $0 and $250 million.

Intensifying economic pressures caused Bread Financial's customers to cut their credit card spending by 13% during the third quarter as the rate of delinquent accounts rose.

As the government weighs changes to interchange, Michael Miebach voiced his displeasure during the company's earnings call.

Banking executives anticipate that loan demand will remain muted over the next 12 months, according to a new survey by the financial services firm IntraFi. That finding lines up with bankers' expectation that rates won't start declining until at least the second half of 2024.

The Oklahoma-based bank is projecting a modest uptick in spending alongside continuing loan growth. Many other banks are tightening the purse strings amid weaker loan demand.