Latest banking news, Sept. 23, 2022

Latest banking news

Royal Bank of Canada is combining a pair of operations under the RBCx brand. Meanwhile, T-Mobile added a peer-to-peer payments to T-Mobile Money, and Barclays is taking applications for an academy for out-of-work fintech entrepreneurs.

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

Royal Bank of Canada combines tech banking, VC units

Toronto's Financial District As Stock Market Bloodbath Kept At Bay In Canada With Gold Rally

Stephanie Foden/Bloomberg

Royal Bank of Canada has merged its technology banking and venture capital businesses to create a tech banking group for companies across growth stages. RBCx, Royal Bank of Canada's tech banking and innovation arm, and RBC Ventures, the bank's innovation group that builds, acquires, invests or partners with technology platforms, have joined under the RBCx brand. The combined entity, which has about 4,000 tech and innovation clients, will provide services to technology companies through four groups: banking, capital, platform and ventures. Sid Paquette, head of RBCx, said in a news release that a team of industry specialists will pair RBC's network and capital with bespoke solutions for clients. The group will also connect founders with other founders, provide access to financing through a fund finance group and invest in scaling its internal ventures innovation portfolio. — Catherine Leffert

T-Mobile's adds P2P services to its mobile money app

T-Mobile has added peer-to-peer payments to its 3-year-old mobile money app. Both parties must be users of the T-Mobile Money app, and P2P transactions cannot exceed $500 a day or $5,000 a month. Existing users can use the P2P feature to invite friends to sign up for the free app, which is powered by BM Technologies, with accounts held at Customers Bank. Separately T-Mobile this week signed a deal to issue credit cards through Goldman Sachs, Bloomberg reported. — Kate Fitzgerald

Barclays rolls out program for founders seeking a second act

Jason Alden/Bloomberg

Barclays has opened applications for its next Rise Start-up Academy, a 20-week program for fintech founders to receive training and find community. This year it has a specific focus: entrepreneurs who were downsized from fintech jobs as a result of the current economic climate. Participants will connect with technical and financial experts to develop their ideas. "We have selected this impacted founder population because we believe out of adversity comes innovation and invention," said Sonal Lakhani, Rise global head of programs and strategic initiatives for Barclays Innovation. "Sometimes it gives you a fresh opportunity to do things you could not or did not think to do before." —Miriam Cross

Sabadell in talks for potential sale of its payments business

Angel Garcia/Bloomberg

Banco de Sabadell is in discussions to sell a unit that handles processing of transactions made with credit and debit cards. "Sabadell is in the process of analyzing a possible strategic agreement with an industrial partner specializing in the Bank's acquisition business," the lender, headquartered in Barcelona, said in a regulatory filing late Thursday. "The acquiring business is one of the pillars of the value proposition for Banco Sabadell customers in the corporate, business and self-employed segment." A divestment would follow that of its crosstown rival CaixaBank, which sold a large stake in its payments business in early 2020. These types of divestments are common in the financial sector as they allow banks to focus on the financial side of the payments business, leaving it to a partner to handle operations, such as updating electronic processing devices and dealing with clients. Sabadell has been considering a sale of the business since at least February, when Bloomberg News reported the plans. The lender has been looking to divest peripheral businesses ever since the collapse of merger talks in 2020 with a bigger Spanish rival, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria. The plans accelerated after Cesar Gonzalez-Bueno became CEO in March 2021. — Rodrigo Orihuela, Bloomberg News

Texas Capital veteran Hall joins board of Susser Bank in Dallas

Kerry Hall, a longtime bank official who most recently ran Texas Capital Bank's regional banking business, has joined the board of family-owned Susser Bank in Dallas, the bank said. Chairman and CEO Sam L. Susser cited Hall's "deep roots in financial services, a collaborative leadership style and a successful track record in helping businesses achieve their strategic goals." A University of Texas graduate, Hall is on the board of several Austin nonprofits. The 63-year-old Susser Bank, owned by Susser Banc Holdings Corp., has branches in Dallas, Arlington, Bedford, Fort Worth, Garland, San Antonio and Round Rock and an LPO in Austin and Houston. — Chana R. Schoenberger

Finastra partners with Visa for cross-border payments

TIM BOYLE/BLOOMBERG BEWS

Finastra, a financial services provider based in London, has partnered with Visa to power cross-border payments for banks using Visa's debit push-to-account service Visa Direct. The feature is rolling out first to U.S. banks, with plans eventually to reach banks globally. Banks using Finastra can offer small and midsize businesses and consumers an instant cross-border payments option able to send funds directly to 2 billion existing global Visa debit accounts. — Kate Fitzgerald

Santander hired law firm to probe strip club visit allegations

Angel Navarrete/Bloomberg

Banco Santander hired a law firm to perform an internal investigation this summer into allegations that a group of bankers visited a strip club in London in February after a day of work, according to a person familiar with the matter. The investigation looked into whether a group of junior employees were pressured into going to the club, the person said, who asked not to be identified because the procedures are private. The news was first reported by the Financial Times. Santander hired Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, a U.S. law firm, for the investigation and the U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority was notified. The investigation, which came as news of the behavior circulated widely among the bank's staff, concluded explicit pressure hadn't been exerted on junior staff to attend. The employees belong to the debt capital markets team and had taken part of meetings in London earlier this year. Seven male members of the team, comprising three senior managers and four juniors, visited the Nags Head Gentlemens Club in Aldgate, according to the Financial Times article. "We take all concerns about employee conduct extremely seriously and follow a rigorous process to ensure the facts are established and appropriate action is taken as necessary," a Santander spokesman said in an email. "The details of such investigations and actions are treated confidentially, and as such, we cannot comment further." — Rodrigo Orihuela and Ruth David, Bloomberg News

Merchants Bank in Indiana closes $1 billion affordable housing securitization

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Merchants Bank of Indiana in Carmel completed a $1.2 billion private securitization for the regional bank's affordable multifamily housing real estate business. Merchants said it acquired more than 86% of the first-lien bridge loans, while institutional investors purchased the remaining interests. The bank will continue to service the loans. Merchants finished No. 1 in a recent ranking of top-performing publicly traded banks with assets between $10 billion and $50 billion compiled by the financial services consulting firm Capital Performance Group. The bank, part of Merchants Bancorp, operates a real estate business focused on affordable housing as well as a residential mortgage warehousing operation in California and traditional banking services including small-business and commercial and industrial lending. — Jordan Stutts