Retail & Commercial

Bank CEOs are eyeing a near-term peak in deposit costs as the Fed perhaps moves closer to cutting interest rates. But the pressures they've faced this year as depositors ask for more compensation may not die down right away.

Leaders at the helms of organizations like Georgia United Credit Union, BayPort Credit Union, Blend Labs and more are adapting products such as "soft check" credit scoring, artificial intelligence-powered bots to streamline application reviewal and more.

Internet-based banks are siphoning deposits away from urban centers in the U.S. and, unlike brick-and-mortar banks, face no requirement that they loan money back into those communities.

Five large U.S. banks are among 50 global financial institutions that climate activists are targeting as they push to end financing of metallurgical coal projects.

JPMorgan Chase is running into some pushback over fees and control as it aims to pull together a group of lenders to help fund private credit deals it originates, according to people with direct knowledge of the discussions.

The 130-year-old Warsaw Federal Savings & Loan achieved a minority status after retooling its board this summer. Its CEO, who is also new to the job, has no plans to slow the pace of change at the depositor-owned bank.

Banks branches continue to shutter through October; First Carolina onboards fintech partner BM Technologies; ICBA announces its 2024 accelerator companies; and more in the weekly banking news roundup.

Once the pace of private equity-backed sales of middle-market companies picks up, the Rhode Island-based bank expects to benefit. CEO Bruce Van Saun says that Citizens' recent expansions in private banking and wealth management will provide opportunities to cross-sell to corporate clients.

Top industry executives said this week that price increases are abating, even if they haven't yet fully abated. Their remarks reflect increased confidence that the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates steady — or perhaps even cut them — in the first half of 2024.

The Georgia-based bank says it's expanding its relationship with GreenSky, a home improvement lender that Goldman Sachs bought in 2022 but put up for sale a year later. The deal will bring a one-time revenue boost and a recurring fee income stream.