BB&T said Tuesday that it will set aside $50 million to invest in or acquire emerging financial technology companies in an effort to lower operating costs and improve the customer experience.
The Winston-Salem, N.C., company said that the investment would help it “secure a competitive advantage” in the marketplace.
"This sizable investment in financial technology companies represents an important strategic milestone in our digital business transformation," Kelly King, the chairman and CEO of the $215 billion-asset BB&T, said in a press release. "We're excited about the possibility of new partnerships and innovative approaches to provide the best possible experience for our clients."
BB&T’s digital transformation began in earnest in 2015, when it named longtime executive Bennett Bradley as its first-ever chief digital officer and promoted him to the executive management team. Later that year it also released a new digital platform — called U by BB&T — that lets customers personalize their banking experience by setting color schemes, profile pictures and which features they want to access after logging in, among other things.
Overall, many banks expect to increase fintech investment in 2018. A study released in December found that 82% of U.S. commercial banks plan to increase fintech investment over the next three years; 86% of bank senior managers surveyed said they intend to boost fintech funding imminently.
The combination of two Pacific Northwest banks was supposed to create a regional powerhouse, but rising deposit costs have stung. CEO Clint Stein says he's "laser-focused" on making Columbia a top performer again.
A set of panels discussing minority depository institutions and digitization found that cost is a significant challenge to minority depository institutions, especially in the core processing space.
The Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a 30-page guidebook on managing affiliate risks. The report builds on formal guidance issued last year.
The efforts, which respond to President Biden's October executive order on AI, aim to improve synthetic content detection and improve the trustworthiness of AI models.
Tighter merchant connections between Square and Cash App helped Block produce stronger-than-expected results during the first quarter, while Jack Dorsey said the firm will launch its first remittance product later this year leveraging decentralized finance.
In talks with OCC officials, "it became obvious that we would not gain near-term approval given their recent experience with multifamily and CRE positions," FirstSun CEO Neal Arnold says. The companies announced other revisions to their deal, too.