Retail & Commercial

The philosophy boils down to “Think broadly, act locally.”

Distinct business plans in promising areas such as smart use of consumer data, cybersecurity and content creation, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch commercial banking executive Scott Olmsted. And that is just the beginning of his list.

Courage. Sexism. Culture. Banking's leaders discuss some of the powerful influences on their daily decisions and their vision for moving the industry forward.

A number of states still have a disproportionately high percentage of unbanked and underbanked citizens. Bankers in those states hope that financial education, along with efforts to promote checking accounts and small-dollar loans, will get more people into the banking system.

A bill looming in Congress would require the Internal Revenue Service to accept electronic transmission of lending-related forms, which could speed up the lending process by days.

Pinnacle Financial in Nashville, Tenn., has sold $120 million in subordinated notes and will use the proceeds to retire existing debt and bolster its capital levels.

The Federal Communications Commission has denied a request to exempt servicers from getting consent before robo-calling borrowers' mobile phones, rejecting arguments that the waiver would enable the mortgage industry to better help delinquent borrowers.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, sharply criticized Wells Fargo on Friday for failing to respond to questions about the phony-accounts scandal, including when the board and top executives first learned of the illegal sales practices.

Applicants for credit cards, auto loans and mortgages are more frequently being told "No," and the reason appears to be more about lenders' new marketing efforts than stricter underwriting or weaker credit profiles.

Montana's biggest bank will have to compete in cities such as Seattle and Portland, Ore., after buying Cascade Bancorp. But the company is arguably more excited about its chances to grow in central Oregon and Idaho, which are more like its existing markets.