Retail & Commercial

FNB Corp. and Bank of America are experimenting with ways to meld the benefits of account-opening in a branch with the efficiency of online.

The Pasadena, California, bank expects to spend more on hiring this year, including the addition of some former Silicon Valley bankers. Anticipated loan growth and an uncertain economic horizon prompted the bank to increase reserves for bad loans.

Executives of the regional bank say they are zeroing in on its most profitable business lines and moving away from one-off customer relationships that don't generate as much revenue.

The Cincinnati bank said that it plans to reduce originations in the segment by 15%. It is leaning into businesses that provide an opportunity to build deeper customer relationships.

Chairman and CEO Chris Gorman said Key's reduction efforts were prompted by an expectation big banks will be expected to operate with significantly lower loan-to-deposit ratios going forward.

The Columbus, Georgia, bank is selling a $1.3 billion portfolio as part of a plan to pay off higher-cost funding. Though there are rising concerns about the office sector, Synovus said the loans it's offloading have pristine credit quality.

Both Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and ranking member Tim Scott, R-S.C., said they would consider what reforms "if any" are necessary post Silicon Valley Bank failure.

The 30-year fixed, which was threatening going above 7% again according to Freddie Mac data, was 18 basis points lower this week.

The bank said it would continue to make multifamily loans to current customers that have depository or other bank relationships. The move comes amid rising concerns about the impact of high interest rates on the apartment sector.

The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee voted nearly unanimously to advance a bill that would halt a plan by the Small Business Administration to open up some of its loan programs to fintech companies.