MoneyGram settles with NY AG, Klarna gets into telecom biz

June 20, 2025 3:51 PM

In this week's banking news roundup: New York's attorney general announces MoneyGram will pay a $250,000 civil fine to settle a lawsuit over its handling of remittance payments; Swedish buy now/pay later lender Klarna is set to launch a mobile phone plan in the U.S.; Truist Financial has hired Charles Alston to lead its new nonprofit hospital, higher education and government banking team; and more.

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MoneyGram settles with NY AG in payments lawsuit

MoneyGram will pay a $250,000 civil fine to settle a lawsuit over its handling of remittance payments, the New York attorney general's office announced on Monday.

The state had accused MoneyGram, a nonbank company that facilitates international money transfers, of illegally delaying payments and failing to investigate customer complaints. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau had previously been a plaintiff in the case, but withdrew in April.

"MoneyGram failed to follow the law for years, sometimes leaving its customers in the dark about where their money went," New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. "My office stopped MoneyGram's illegal behavior and will continue to protect those who rely on MoneyGram to support their families."

MoneyGram has admitted no wrongdoing. —Nathan Place

Hollie Adams/Bloomberg

Klarna to offer mobile phone plans in the US

Buy now/pay later lender Klarna is getting into the telecom business as it looks to continue to diversify its product set and drive more traffic to its app.

The Swedish company is set to launch a $40 per month mobile phone plan that will be powered by telecom-as-a-service provider Gigs and run on the AT&T network "in the coming weeks," the company said. The plan includes unlimited 5G data, talk and text, and users will manage their plan directly in Klarna's app.

The U.S. launch will be followed by releases in the United Kingdom and Germany.

"Klarna has saved consumers time and money, and reduced financial worry for over 20 years. With mobile plans we're taking that one step further, as we continue to build our neobank offering," said co-founder and CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski in a statement. —Joey Pizzolato

Truist hires ex-BofA executive to lead new vertical

Truist Financial has hired Charles Alston to lead its new nonprofit hospital, higher education and government banking team, the company announced in a press release.

Alston joined Charlotte, North Carolina-based Truist from Bank of America, also based in Charlotte, where Alston worked for more than 25 years, according to his LinkedIn profile. Most recently, he was the market executive for BofA's health care, higher education and not-for-profit business in the Southeast, according to the press release.

He will be based in Jacksonville, Florida, and will report to Jason Cagle, Truist's head of specialized industries, the release said.

Truist's hospitals, higher education and government banking team is part of the company's specialized industry group, which falls within its commercial and corporate banking business. Alston's team, which serves more than 1,000 clients, provides public finance and trading, payments, credit and cash management. —Allissa Kline

Private equity firm PGIM to buy up to $3B of Affirm loans

Private equity firm PGIM is set to buy up to $3 billion in Affirm loans over the next three years through a pass-through loan sale facility. PGIM will be able to buy up to $500 million of Affirm loans at any one time, according to the buy now/pay later lender.

The expanded capital partnership comes on the heels of a PGIM private purchase of $500 million in Affirm loans in December 2024. PGIM is also an investor in Affirm's asset-backed securities, another funding mechanism for the BNPL company. Affirm also has forward flow arrangements with the investment firm Sixth Street and Liberty Mutual Investments.

"PGIM is proud to expand our longstanding collaboration with Affirm. This agreement is a further testament to our commitment to finding durable sources of risk-adjusted returns for our clients through our selective origination process," said Edwin Wilches, co-head of securitized products at PGIM Fixed Income, in a statement. —Joey Pizzolato

Citi’s board elects director with big-bank experience

For the second time this year, Citigroup's board has elected a new director with an extensive career in banking.

Jonathan Moulds, who is the former CEO of Bank of America Merrill Lynch International, is the board's newest independent director, Citi said in a press release. His term begins immediately.

Moulds joined Bank of America in 1997 and led BofA's international businesses before serving as the European president of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, according to the press release. He later joined Barclays as its group chief operating officer, a role he left in late 2016.

Moulds' election follows the departure of S. Leslie Ireland, who did not sit for reelection this year. Ireland, who worked for the CIA and later took a job at the Treasury Department, joined Citi's board in 2016.

Earlier this year, Citi's board elected Titi Cole to fill the seat vacated by Barbara Desoer, who left the board due to Citi's age restrictions for directors. The board currently has 13 directors. —Allissa Kline

JPMorgan names O’Donovan head of international consumer bank

JPMorganChase named Mark O'Donovan head of its international consumer bank, giving him oversight of the firm's existing consumer offering in the U.K., planned launch in Germany and stake in Brazil's C6 Bank.

O'Donovan will relocate to London and report to Marianne Lake, head of JPMorgan's consumer and community banking arm, who recently added the international consumer bank and strategic growth to her remit, according to an internal memo Monday. Bregje de Best will succeed O'Donovan as chief financial officer of the commercial and investment bank, and her former co-head of global corporate banking, James Roddy, will take sole control of that business.

The appointments follow the departure of longtime executive Sanoke Viswanathan, who was named the next chief executive officer of data company FactSet Research Systems earlier this month. He oversaw the launch of JPMorgan's U.K. consumer offering, which has over 2.5 million customers, and its purchase of U.K. digital wealth manager Nutmeg. —Hannah Levitt, Bloomberg News