Latest banking news

Our latest roundup includes items about Mastercard's Pride plans, a Delta credit card made out of a scrapped plane, and news about bank buyouts in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Scroll through to see what you might have missed this week in banking, payments, M&A and more.

Mastercard kicks off LGBTQ campaign in Meta's VR world

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Michael Short/Bloomberg
Mastercard added momentum to its Pride month activities with a new marketing campaign, Your True Self is Priceless, announced Friday. The campaign urges members of the LGBTQ community to write letters to their younger selves reflecting on their journey toward authenticity. These messages will be displayed in Meta’s Horizon Worlds, with support from Mastercard through Instagram and TikTok. Mastercard will also support True Self World launching June 21 in Horizon Worlds, a virtual reality experience that allows users to connect using Meta Quest 2 headsets. — Kate Fitzgerald

Amazon, Affirm push BNPL before Prime Day

Installment Loans Provider Affirm Holdings Plans IPO
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Amazon Prime members will be given an option to pay over three months with no interest through Affirm's buy now/pay later service for purchases of $50 or more between June 28 and July 11. The campaign is designed to draw attention to both Amazon and Affirm ahead of Prime Day, which spans July 12 and 13. Affirm, which is Amazon's exclusive BNPL partner in the U.S., typically charges interest for certain purchases, with the amount disclosed to buyers before purchase. While the BNPL market has grown rapidly over the past two years, the sector more recently has been hit by regulatory scrutiny  over the product's impact on consumer debt and concerns about delinquency risk in the event of an economic slowdown. — John Adams

Delta and Amex recycle an airplane for their latest credit card

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American Express and Delta Airlines used metal from a Delta Air Lines 747 jet to create a limited-edition version of their elite Delta SkyMiles Reserve credit card. The card, made of 25% metal peeled from the aluminum exterior of a recently retired Delta jet, is available through Aug. 3. It comes with access to an augmented reality experience touching on Boeing 747 history with details on how the plane’s metal was transformed into a card design. — Kate Fitzgerald

Webster Financial makes commitment to underserved communities

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Webster Financial in Stamford, Connecticut, has pledged $6.5 billion to support low- and moderate income communities and small businesses throughout its recently expanded footprint. The holding company for Webster Bank, which acquired Sterling Bancorp in Pearl River, New York, in January, said it will direct more than $2 billion into three separate areas — affordable housing lending, small-business lending and community development lending — and continue to support programs that promote food distribution, workforce development and financial literacy for youth and aging populations. An Office of Corporate Responsibility is being established to oversee the expanded efforts, the company said. — Allissa Kline

Farmers & Merchants buying fellow Ohio bank

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Farmers & Merchants Bancorp in Archbold, Ohio, said it is buying Sidney, Ohio-based Peoples-Sidney Financial in Sidney, Ohio, in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $27 million. Peoples-Sidney has roughly $132.7 million of assets, $99.9 million of loans and $114.8 million of deposits. The $2.7 billion-asset Farmers & Merchants expects the acquisition to be approximately 2.5% and 3.9% accretive to estimated 2023 and 2024 earnings per share, respectively. Tangible book value per share will be diluted by an estimated 2.1% and is expected to be recovered in just over three years. The buyer did not specify a targeted closing date. — Jim Dobbs

Prudential Bank shareholders approve sale to Fulton 

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Shareholders of Prudential Bancorp in Philadelphia voted Wednesday to approve the bank's sale to Fulton Financial in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, after the deal received regulator approval earlier in the week. The $26 billion-asset Fulton Financial has 200 branches across several mid-Atlantic states. Acquiring the $1 billion-asset Prudential would allow Fulton to expand its footprint in the Philadelphia metro area. In a proxy statement filed with the SEC, Prudential executives said that another entity, referred to as "Party B" in the statement, had also made a proposal but that Fulton's was determined to be more competitive. — Victoria Zhuang

Grubhub rolls out 'Instant Cashout' with PayPal and Visa

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Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
Grubhub launched Instant Cashout via Direct to Debit, powered by Hyperwallet from PayPal and Visa. The offering enables Grubhub drivers to immediately access their earnings and deposit them to an eligible debit or prepaid card. More than 60% of drivers currently use the pre-existing Instant Cashout offering in partnership with Chase, Grubhub said. It said this is its latest effort to increase the financial stability and flexibility for its driver. The offering is rolling out throughout the month of June. — Paige Hagy

MVB Financial in West Virginia says it's met carbon-neutrality goal

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MVP Financial, the parent company of the $2.9 billion-asset MVB Bank in Fairmont, West Virginia, said it successfully concluded its plan for carbon neutrality. MVB Financial launched its first Environmental Emissions study in 2021 to gain a more comprehensive picture of the impact its banking operations had on the company’s carbon footprint. “As trusted partners on the financial frontier and stewards for our environment, MVB initiated several projects in 2021 related to data collection, energy efficiency and ultimately reducing our carbon footprint,” Don Robinson, the parent firm's president and chief financial officer, said in a press release. — Frank Gargano
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