SunTrust

Increases in charitable donations will be more important than ever for bank reputations, as tax breaks and a lighter touch from financial regulators rekindle public anger about the financial crisis.

They aren't creating new products, but some lenders are advising cash-strapped customers in high-tax states to tap home equity or other credit lines to prepay property taxes before the new tax law kicks in.

Regional and community banks will offer low-cost or no-cost financial products through Bank On, which has already reached agreements with Regions Bank, Wells Fargo and SunTrust.

It’s only early December, but bank CEOs’ comments this week about tax reform, their thirst for deposits, consumer lending initiatives, and challenges in commercial lending offer a sneak peek at what’s coming when earnings season begins next month.

SunTrust sold an insurance financing unit that it deemed noncore, but it is on the lookout to buy more complementary businesses such as a CRE lender it acquired last year.

The British banking giant has been testing its new online lending platform with a handful of its U.S. customers and plans to roll it out in full force next year. It's all part of a broader effort to expand its U.S. consumer business beyond credit cards.

It’s good to be a business lender with a long contact list. Loan growth is weak and the talent pool has been shrinking, so banks big and small are paying top dollar to get an edge.

Fintechs should learn to value risk management — and the necessary bureaucracy that comes with it, bankers said this week in defending themselves again criticism that they are a pain in the neck to work with.

Home equity lines could double over the next six years. Some banks are actively pursuing the consumer credit opportunity, whereas many still feel stung by the housing crisis, unimpressed by home equity’s comeback so far or fearful of nonbank competition and fraud.

Days after revealing he was in full remission from cancer, David H. Stevens said he is retiring as president and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association.