Retail & Commercial

Banks that kept a lid on their cost of funds managed to outperform their peers, illustrating the fact that 2024 was a defensive year for the industry.

First Northwest Bancorp is parting ways with CEO Matt Deines "by mutual agreement," the Port Angeles, Washington-based company said. Deines' departure comes a month after a hedge fund sued, alleging the lender was complicit in a Ponzi scheme.

The digital bank had previously notified about 1,000 business customers that they would lose access to their debit cards for a week, amid a systems update.

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose for the first time in six weeks, driven by Friday's strong jobs report and renewed uncertainty around tariffs.

The U.K. fintech has launched a series of products that expand on its core payments business and compete with banks and other payment technology firms.

Bill Martin, a real estate developer and athletics executive who founded the community bank in 1996, said he considers the privately held institution to be "like one of my kids."

The digital bank is also partnering with two pro pickleball leagues to court fans through a consistent presence at tournaments later this year.

Growth in conventional originations at U.S. banks came with the unexpectedly rapid rise of 30-year fixed interest rates in 2022, Federal Reserve researchers found.

Stablecoins are already disrupting traditional finance and have the potential to eat away at banks' deposit base. Banks should be looking for ways to turn this emerging threat into an opportunity.

Steep trade barriers that were set to go into effect on July 9 have once again been put on pause, giving banks a welcome reprieve, but adding still more pressure and uncertainty on the Federal Reserve and the broader economy.