Retail & Commercial

Hanmi Financial in Los Angeles has inked major leaguers Hyun-Jin Ryu and Shin-Soo Choo to multiyear marketing deals to attract Korean-American consumers and baseball fans in general.

Establishing mentoring programs and better employee communication, drawing on the expertise of nonfinancial companies and holding special events aimed at women business owners are some of the ways banks can develop more women executives and clients.

Expense related to failed bank deals weighed on Simmons First National (SFNC) in Pine Bluff, Ark., in the first quarter.

Bank of the West's Andy Harmening discusses the advantages of being owned by France's BNP Paribas. "For us, it's been a very positive relationship," he says. Harmening, a senior executive vice president and regional banking group head, spoke to American Banker at the annual Best Practices in Retail Banking Symposium.

Washington's star-crossed mortgage foreclosure settlement suffered yet another setback this week when checks belatedly sent out to homeowners bounced. The troubles that have plagued the program from start to finish raise a number of broader questions. Among them: whether regulators' fondness for complex solutions is itself a recipe for failure and whether the foreclosure settlement's litany of troubles will lead to concrete policy changes.

The use of ultrasonic noise — silent to the human ear — in mobile payments and rewards hasn't garnered as much attention as Near Field Communication chips and QR codes, but there are a few successful implementations.

Fee income and securities sales lifted Lakeland Bancorp (LBAI) in Oak Ridge, N.J., in the first quarter.

Fifth Third Bancorp's (FITB) quarterly profit declined slightly as improvements in credit quality nearly balanced declining interest income and fee income.

Lower yields weighed on People's United Financial (PBCT) in Bridgeport, Conn., in the first quarter.

The settlement, which follows an earlier deal with market leader Assurant, will prevent the insurers from giving banks commissions, free services, and reinsurance deals in order to win their business.