Retail & Commercial

Citizens Financial Group in Providence, R.I., said Thursday that its first-quarter earnings increased 7% from the same period last year, to $223 million, as strong commercial loan growth offset a dip in fee income. Earnings per share increased 8%, to 41 cents.

It's not exactly clear what blockchain will amount to, but Capgemini is convinced it will be too good an opportunity to miss.

Profits barely budged at Umpqua Holdings in Portland, Ore., even though it recorded strong consumer and other loan growth last quarter.

Competitive pricing and softening demand at the high end of the apartment- and condo-building market had executives at BankUnited, Signature and New York Community answering tough questions about their growth projections and diversification strategies.

For years, banks in the Midwest looked beyond the region to increase revenue and profit. Today, the area is starting to bounce back, allowing many of those banks to thrive by focusing on their core markets.

American Express Co., the credit-card issuer grappling with the loss of co-brand partners, posted first-quarter profit that beat estimates as customer spending increased.

An online student loan refinancing business that was recently spun off from a Virginia bank has been rebranded as Purefy Inc.

University Bancorp in Michigan says the main goal of its recent debt offering was to raise capital, but it also was designed to comply with Sharia and other religious standards that guard against usury.

Richard Davis, the Minneapolis bank's CEO, is defending his decision to charge a fee for real-time payments. The move will allow it to earn back the cost of investment and prevent consumers from thinking of the bank as "a utility," he says.

Strong investor demand for two recent securitizations by Navient, the largest servicer of federally guaranteed student loans, suggests that banks may soon have an opportunity to resume unloading such assets.