Bank-issued prepaid benefits cards were supposed to help state governments deliver these funds more efficiently. But the pandemic scrambled the economics of these programs.

Fourth-quarter profits rose 10% at the Cleveland company as investment banking income hit a record and nonperforming loans plummeted. Executives say charge-offs will probably start rising in late 2022 but that fee income from capital markets transactions will keep growing.

KeyCorp paid out bonuses to investment bankers of as much as $25,000 in June, according to people familiar with the matter, joining other financial firms that have boosted pay to retain talent.

The company, which is phasing out positions in areas including mainframe computing and lockbox operations, is offering employees 10 hours of instruction per quarter to learn how to manage bots and develop other new skills, Chief Information Officer Amy Brady says.

Commercial and industrial loans fell 14.3% in the second quarter. But CEO Chris Gorman says green shoots are emerging, pointing in particular to recent stability in credit line utilization rates.

Jennifer Eastes is tasked with spearheading and accelerating environmental, social and governance efforts at the Cleveland-based company.

Joe Skarda, who was previously managing director of JPMorgan Chase’s U.S. wealth management central division, will oversee a unit that houses Key’s private bank, family wealth and mass affluent business segments.

The Cleveland company is more than doubling an earlier commitment in order to support racial equity and environmental sustainability.

The Cleveland company will launch the service in March to broaden relationships its Laurel Road student loan refinancing unit has built with health care professionals.

Noninterest income has bolstered profits this year. But its growth is expected to slow over the next two years, making for a gloomy earnings outlook unless vaccine distributions and the economic recovery are relatively swift.