Vectra Bank Colorado's president retires

May 2, 2025 2:13 PM

In this week's banking news roundup: Vectra Bank Colorado President Bruce Alexander is retiring after 25 years with the bank; Unilever Federal Credit Union in New Jersey was shut down by NCUA; Vista Bank hired Bob Mahalik in preparation for Texas bank M&A; and more.

Vectra Bank Colorado

Vectra Bank Colorado CEO retires

Vectra Bank Colorado President and CEO Bruce Alexander is retiring after 25 years with the Zions Bancorp-owned bank.

Alexander will remain part-time with Vectra to assist with projects and to ensure a smooth transition for his successor. Zions plans to begin an immediate search for a new CEO, the company said in a press release Tuesday.

Alexander joined Vectra Bank in 2000 following the merger of 21 community banks acquired by Zions. Under his leadership, Vectra grew from $1 billion in assets to $4 billion today.

"His vision and strategic direction have been instrumental in navigating the bank through numerous economic cycles and challenges, including the September 11th attacks, the Great Recession of 2008 and 2010, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the regional banking crisis of 2023," Vectra said.

Vectra CFO Ashley Comstock, a 2022 Women in Banking: Next award winner, cited Alexander's mentorship as instrumental to her career development. —Mary de Wet

Frank Gargano

NCUA closes credit union in New Jersey

Unilever Federal Credit Union in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, was shut down and liquidated this week by the National Credit Union Administration, which determined that the 77-year-old company was insolvent and "had no prospect for restoring viable operations."

The NCUA board placed the credit union into involuntary liquidation on April 30 and appointed itself liquidating agent, the federal agency said in a press release. NCUA's asset management and assistance center will communicate with members holding verified share accounts within one week.

Member deposits are federally insured by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund up to $250,000.

Unilever FCU primarily served employees of Unilever United States and its directly or indirectly wholly owned subsidiaries, according to the NCUA. It had $46.7 million of assets and more than 1,440 members, the NCUA said. —Allissa Kline

Vista prepares for Texas bank M&A, hires Mahalik

Vista Bank expects consolidation of Texas community banks and has hired Bob Mahalik, formerly of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank, as its mergers and acquisitions advisor.

Mahalik "played a pivotal role in overseeing and regulating bank consolidations across the region," the Dallas-based, $2.4 billion-asset bank said in a press release Wednesday.

Mahalik joined the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank in February 1984, according to his LinkedIn profile. His title with Vista is senior vice president, director of strategic initiatives and M&A advisor.

"After spending four decades ensuring the stability of banks, particularly as it related to mergers and acquisitions, I saw an opportunity to pivot and directly influence the future of Texas consolidation by joining a bank I believe is well-positioned to make it happen," Mahalik said in the release. —Mary de Wet

Zelle to lean into small-business payments

Zelle, the bank-owned peer-to-peer payments company, is putting more emphasis on small businesses amid increased uptake by those companies on its platform.

The use of Zelle by small businesses has tripled in the last three years, with over 7 million enrolled, according to Zelle's first small-business report. The average payments sent by small businesses was around $630 in 2024.

Zelle also estimates that 3 million to 4 million people are receiving payments for independent or self-directed work. The average payment received by small businesses was about $465 last year.

Small businesses in urban areas showed the largest adoption rate. Los Angeles led in payment volume, followed by Miami, New York, Chicago, Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, Washington, Phoenix and Orlando, Florida.

The report marks the beginning of a "multi-year journey" into small-business payments for Zelle, Denise Leonhard, general manager of Zelle, told American Banker.

"You're going to start to see from us a longer-term small-business road map where we really start to think about what small businesses need, and start to answer those needs even more," Leonhard said. —Joey Pizzolato

Affirm launches AI-powered promotion platform

Buy now/pay later lender Affirm is launching a new AI-powered promotion platform for merchants, called AdaptAI, that will allow retailers to offer rewards to consumers. Those rewards can include exclusive APR rates, special repayment terms or immediate cash savings, Affirm said.

"Unlike conventional credit card rewards … AdaptAI dynamically matches the right benefit to the right consumer at exactly the right moment," said Vishal Kapoor, Affirm's SVP of product, in a statement. "Consumers no longer need to spend more, keep track of, or wait months to recoup their rewards. Now, they can immediately receive tailored, transparent value at the time of purchase."

The company this week also announced a partnership with UATP, a payment network owned and operated by the world's airlines, which will bring Affirm's pay-over-time products to airlines, rail carriers and travel agencies within UATP's network in the U.S., the U.K. and Canada. —Joey Pizzolato

DailyPay expands into Canada

Earned wage access provider DailyPay is expanding into Canada this month, marking the company's second international market expansion following its entry into the United Kingdom in 2024.

"Expanding into Canada is a major step in our mission to better serve our multinational clients and partners and to provide On-Demand Pay to everyone, everywhere," said Josh Durodola, vice president of international at DailyPay, in a statement.

DailyPay's first clients in Canada include Hotel Equities, Sekure Payments Experts, Bamford Produce, Kids & Company and HGS, according to the company.

"We are committed to enhancing our employee experience, and offering On-Demand Pay is an important step in ensuring they feel valued, supported and empowered in their financial journey," said Katie Chiarelli, vice president of sales and marketing at Sekure Payment Experts, in a statement. —Joey Pizzolato

Long to lead data strategy for America’s Credit Unions

America's Credit Unions has named Curt Long chief economist/vice president of data and research. Long has extensive experience utilizing economic data and research to advocate on behalf of the credit union industry, including with the Federal Reserve system, the NCUA and Congress.

"Curt has provided cutting-edge industry research and has served as an excellent advocate for the credit union industry for over a decade," America's Credit Unions President and CEO Jim Nussle said in a press release.

Long joined the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions in 2010 and was named director of research and chief economist in 2014. During his time with the national credit union trade association, he represented credit unions, giving budget testimony to the NCUA over the past six years, meeting with the Federal Reserve Board nine times and holding meetings with regional federal banks.

America's Credit Unions is the voice for not-for-profit credit unions and their more than 140 million members. —Traci Parks

Huntington opens first of several Carolina branches

Huntington National Bank opened a retail branch in Spartanburg, South Carolina, part of a broader market expansion across the Carolinas.

The banking subsidiary of Huntington Bancshares in Columbus, Ohio, plans to open about 55 branches in North and South Carolina over the next three years, it said in a press release. It also plans to hire more than 350 employees across both states.

The next location is set to open in Charlotte's SouthPark area on May 12, the bank said. Huntington plans to open its next South Carolina branch in Charleston in the fourth quarter.

The $210 billion-asset company announced its branch-expansion plan last fall. Adding consumer lending, wealth management and consumer deposits is intended to support Huntington's commercial banking growth in the region. —Allissa Kline

Bank of America hires from Citi, Deutsche Bank, Santander for Latin America

Bank of America is hiring executives from Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and Banco Santander for its Latin America business.

Giovanni Fernandes, a former managing director at Santander covering utilities, oil and gas and infrastructure concessions in Brazil, will join BofA's investment bank in Sao Paulo, according to people familiar with the matter. Fernandes is expected to start in July after a period of garden leave, the people said, asking not to be identified because no formal announcement has been made.

Also moving to BofA is Martin Cameo from Deutsche Bank, who'll be a managing director for Latin America structured finance based in New York, one of the people said, adding that Cameo will start in July.

Arturo Grisi, a Citigroup senior director covering power and infrastructure, is rejoining BofA's investment bank in Mexico in June, the person said. —Vinícius Andrade and Cristiane Lucchesi, Bloomberg News