Retail & Commercial

The incredible demand for credit, numbers reaching into the trillions, is luring banks back into the very risk markets that got them in trouble 20 years ago.

The Minneapolis-based bank is offering loans to providers planning to build practices from scratch — a reversal after years of serving only existing practices.

Since Michael Rhodes became its CEO, Ally Financial has gotten bigger by thinking more narrowly. Instead of growing the company's web of businesses, the company has exited some sectors while doubling down on what Ally does best: auto lending.

Governor Greg Abbott proclaimed Texas the "financial capital of America" at the Texas Bankers Association's annual convention; Columbus, Ohio-based Northwest Bank named Chad Ballard chief information officer; Deutsche Bank terminated some staff as a result of its client relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

Farmers and Mechanics Federal Savings Bank in Bloomfield, Indiana, last turned a profit in 2023.

The total delinquency rate rose 0.2 percentage points annually in March, with the share of loans 90 days late rising out of the range they were in since 2024.

The test of automated risk assessments for government-sponsored enterprise-eligible mortgages are designed to help determine when waivers might be possible.

People are becoming increasingly wary that things they see, read and hear may be AI-generated rather than authentic. To maintain customer trust, banks need to leave no doubt that they are people-driven organizations.

The narrative of fintechs as dramatic disrupters of traditional finance is wearing thin these days. More and more established fintech firms have discovered the value of respectability, and deemed it to be worth the cost.

The trillions being poured into AI is putting pressure on the hyperscalers to produce a return on the investments.