The Federal Reserve Board signed off on Provident Financial Services' acquisition of Lakeland Bancorp. The newly combined bank will be the seventh largest in the state.

Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., and Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that pursuing a rulemaking on forced arbitration, as laid out by consumer advocates' rulemaking petition, would be an "affront to Congress."

Launched last July, FedNow had enrolled more than 600 participants by mid-March, according to government officials. That marked a 100% increase from the start of the year, with more banks and credit unions viewing fast payments capabilities as essential. Fraud concerns linger, however.

From internal operations to conversational interfaces for clients, bank executives are bullish on the potential for efficiency gains.

Mortgage rates rose this week as investors priced stronger than expected inflation and jobs affecting Fed moves into the 10-year Treasury.

To protect their own talent pipeline, financial companies need to make sure that they're not only protecting the entry-level roles that AI threatens to take over, but getting the enthusiastic buy-in of the people most likely to be affected, according to experts from Fiserv, Segpay and Featurespace.