Retail & Commercial

What makes a true leader is particularly relevant to the banking industry, in which the leading institutions and key individuals are not always defined by asset size.

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.

Two large national groups want a federal court to force the Department of Education to release documents showing how it oversees private collection agencies and collects student loan debt.

The former head of the FDIC has a longstanding interest in small-dollar consumer lending.

Banking activity snapped back into expansion mode in February according to the latest reading in the Index of Banking Activity. The upturn was driven primarily by significant momentum in the Northeast and Midwest regions and contrasted strongly with a particularly weak reading in January. In the latest month, index components that track loan application and approval activity turned positive for both the consumer and commercial sides of the business. Survey respondents also were mostly positive on questions related to credit quality, with sentiment on delinquencies improving in several regions. Despite the upturn for the loan-origination indicators, there was no evidence of increased momentum in the component that monitors loan balances outstanding. But this seems to have stemmed from a positive development as well, as several respondents noted that February saw customers pay down loan balances and, in one respondent's case, the payoff activity cleared up loans that had been viewed as problematic in January. One common theme across the respondent pool was that competition had intensified significantly for new commercial loan business, resulting in a tougher pricing environment in several regions.

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The Dallas-based subprime consumer lender backed off controversial changes to its method for calculating its quarterly provisions for loan losses, forcing it to revise earnings downward for the last two years. It also announced that it had found more accounting issues.

An 11-page paper by the agency signaled its intent to take a higher-profile role in ensuring that regulators are not inappropriately hampering banks' adoption of new technologies to reach customers, while also keeping an eye out that institutions are able to handle the risks involved.

BNC Bancorp in High Point, N.C., has delayed the closing of its acquisition of Southcoast Financial in Mount Pleasant, S.C., as the Federal Reserve has not completed its review of the deal.

AmeriServ Financial in Johnstown, Pa., will record a first-quarter loss because an unnamed energy-sector client plans to liquidate under bankruptcy protection.

Bank of America appears to be retaining more deposits from recent branch sales, using technological advancements to keep customers despite the lack of a physical location.