Retail & Commercial

Among the lessons David Hijirida learned at the online giant: Companies are often so focused on competitors that they neglect their own customers.

Executives from Ally Financial and Santander Consumer USA gave rosy outlooks about 2019 consumer trends, while other banks that rely less heavily on car lending offered more cautious appraisals.

The Virginia company, which recently bought Access National, will become Atlantic Union Bank later this year.

Lenders are glad the agency worked swiftly through a backlog of paperwork, but they're worried funds will get cut off if the government closes again.

Criminals are going to get smarter, but banks can implement a modern authentication solution to meet unique use cases and security requirements without sacrificing user convenience, writes Mike Byrnes, senior product manager at Entrust Datacard.

Thanks to big tech companies, the business world is moving to third-party platforms, or online marketplaces where buyers pull sellers' products off digital shelves. A growing number of financial institutions — including BBVA, Citi and community banks like Eastern — say they can't afford to sit out the trend.

The regional bank is roughly a third of the way to the 260 workers needed to staff the 25 branches it plans to open there over two years.

Although the credit union industry managed to add more loans and members, lending is expected to grow at just 8 percent this year, according to a recent report.

The new asset-based securities lending unit, based in Charlotte, N.C., will provide warehouse lines of credits to nonbank consumer and commercial lenders.

Gatsby, which has built an app to let novice investors buy puts or calls, has received funding from Barclays, Radius Bank and others. Radius is considering offering the service to its customers.