Retail & Commercial

Collaboration will allow buyers to tap state assistance for down payment, closing costs.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and our social media platforms.

Rent is one of the few payment types where automation has made very little headway, still relying heavily on mailed checks that the landlord deposits in person at a bank. One strategy to change that is to borrow a concept from the gig economy, in which the payment rides along with other services.

BMO recently won a diversity award for reaching its goal of having women in 40% of senior management jobs, and CEO Bill Downe argues equal treatment of employees will carry over to fair treatment of customers and create long-term profits for shareholders.

Andy Harmening will succeed longtime retail banking chief Mary Navarro, who is retiring in June.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Experian sold consumers an "educational" credit score and falsely claimed in advertisements that the score was used by lenders to make credit decisions.

The regulator said that Santander has not made sufficient progress in complying with a 2015 enforcement order.

A faster network is letting the regional bank bring new technology into its branches and share data with fintech partners via APIs.

Citigroup plans to close three of its four London branches as the company seeks to cut costs and focus on digital services.

It took several offers for First Busey to seal a deal to buy First Community Financial Partners, and the details in a recent public filing of the back and forth between the two Illinois banks show how patience in merger negotiations is a must.