Retail & Commercial

The Rhode Island company has been snapping up banks and nonbanks alike. It says that buying Willamette Management Associates in Oregon will augment its 2017 purchase of Western Reserve Partners.

First United Bank in Oklahoma bought a minority stake in Exencial Wealth Advisors instead of acquiring it outright to give the owners an incentive to stick around and help build the business — and to make it easier for the bank to bail if things don't work out.

Many banks reported sharp declines in income from home loans during the second quarter. The large gains they enjoyed last year thanks to a surge in refinancing activity are unlikely to return, according to bankers and analysts.

Stacy Kymes, the bank's chief operating officer and a 25-year company veteran, will succeed the retiring Steven Bradshaw.

Banks should favor the development of U.S. data rules that let them freely share consumer information with, and receive it from, fintechs. The alternative, where banks merely send data to third parties for a fee, would be less competitive and less beneficial for all parties.

First National Bank of Omaha and Centime, a Boston software company, have developed a tool that banks rarely offer small businesses: a portal that forecasts cash flow, helps entrepreneurs anticipate shortages and provides a ready source of credit when they fall short.

Consumers who had paid down balances during the pandemic started spending more, while issuers made additional credit available, according to researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The findings suggest the start of a return to more normal borrowing patterns in the card industry.

“You need scale to keep up with necessary technology spend and regulatory costs,” CEO James Hillebrand said in explaining why the bank agreed to buy Commonwealth Bank & Trust just three months after it bought Kentucky Bancshares.

The industry had tightened up last year in the face of COVID-19. But as the economic outlook improves, banks are now easing criteria amid heightened competition, according to the Federal Reserve’s survey of loan officers.

First Hawaiian and Bank of Hawaii are warning that a global spike in coronavirus cases could stunt the state's momentum and threaten credit quality.