News and Information from American Banker

TruLookup for Real Estate reduces the need for realtors to access multiple databases or download numerous apps when researching a potential client or property.

Banks are a critical link in the chain of elder fraud; blockchain is exciting and infrastructure is boring, but they're actually the same thing; and there are way more home sellers than buyers.

In a digital world, paper checks are an expensive, inefficient and unsecured vestige of the past. Bankers, regulators and policymakers need to come together around a strategy to eliminate their role in the U.S. financial system.

The investment firm is growing its digital asset portfolio in a "tokenization race" by being the external asset manager for Superstate's flagship on-chain fund.

With seniors losing billions to scams, cybersecurity experts say banks must partner with telecom and tech companies to intercept fraud earlier.

Diligence Capital Management is pushing the beleaguered bank to add directors with bank turnaround experience. Eagle has been searching for a new CEO after getting battered from losses tied to its commercial real estate portfolio.

Cambridge Savings Bank has been stockpiling capital. Now its CEO says it's willing to part with a portion of that stash if the right opportunity presents itself.

A federal judge said Friday that the Trump Organization will have three months to collect new evidence and refile its complaint. It alleges that Capital One illegally closed hundreds of its accounts following the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks on the U.S. Capitol.

The new executive order could add lender competition for self-employed borrowers, potentially via a small loan carveout and one for portfolio products.

There were an estimated 630,000, or 46.3%, more home sellers than buyers in the United States in February, according to a Redfin report.

Huntington is among the banks investing in technology that embeds payments and financial services into nonfinancial functions — a move designed to counter the encroachment of digital wallets and fintechs.

The Apollo Group, a six-person team in New York, is the latest to show that former First Republic advisors are still not completely settled at JPMorgan.

Federal Reserve Gov. Stephen Miran said it is too early to judge how U.S. involvement in the war with Iran will affect inflation and monetary policy.

The Trump administration hasn't formally charged Swalwell, Adam Schiff or Lisa Cook, while a federal court tossed a prosecution against Letitia James.

A rumored executive order that would require banks to verify the citizenship of their account holders would be incredibly burdensome for banks. It would also result in the "debanking" of untold numbers of Americans.

Two credit unions in San Diego are locked in a bitter fight over a proposed merger; and a community bank in upstate New York fights off a corporate raider.

Todd Lane, the CEO of California Coast Credit Union, described an allegation by an executive at San Diego County Credit Union as "categorically inaccurate." The two institutions are locked in a legal fight after their agreement to merge turned contentious.

Lake Shore Bancorp in Western New York has reached a "standstill agreement" with the Stilwell Group, which has promised not to force a merger or sale in the next three years.

Swiss banking giant UBS Group received federal approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to convert its $1.6 trillion-asset UBS Bank USA from a Utah-chartered industrial bank to a national charter.

Early industry reaction to the Federal Reserve's Basel III proposals points to potential capital relief for banks, though stakeholders say the complexity of the changes makes their overall impact unclear.

Financial institutions that delay or fail to take this leap risk losing customers and revenue, said speakers at the inaugural On-Chain Executive Summit.

CISA and Microsoft urge organizations to secure endpoint management systems as threat actors increasingly seek to disrupt operations with wiper malware.

Piermont Bank hired Dennis Day for a new executive role focused on payments; the American Bankers Association announced the global expansion of its widely used Fraud Contact Directory; MC Bankshares moved one step closer to finalizing its sale to an investor group; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

The reported reversal comes after the industry worried verifying citizenship would strain banks and push customers out of the system.

Some of the country's largest financial institutions are rolling out stablecoins. With the right strategy, community and mid-tier banks can also reap the benefits of the new payment rail.

At a Transact event on career management for women in payments, leaders from Visa, NMI and elsewhere discussed embracing new and unknown ideas as a way to stay vital.

By welcoming AI-driven vendor platforms into their banks, small and midsize institutions are introducing risks that are poorly understood and potentially interrelated. Boards of directors need to start paying attention.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is charged with protecting the U.S. financial system, but its failure to implement a whistleblower program authorized in 2022 leaves the agency unable to capitalize on a key source of intelligence.

Trading bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is fine, but it's a sideshow: Blockchain is the underlying innovation that has the potential to change the way markets operate.

A first look at the capital plan suggests it moves the real estate finance industry closer to changes it lobbied for, but the devil may be in the details.

Housing economists at ICE Experience 2026 predict mortgage growth but also say the home finance industry has yet to fully adapt to the disruption of this decade.

The Oklahoma community bank partnered with two digital asset companies to create a cross-border form of tokenized U.S. dollar deposits.

Grand Rapids-based Independent Bank Corp. has agreed to buy HCB Bancorp for $70.2 million — the buyer's first deal since 2017.

Participate, a loan participation network, has agreed to use tokenized dollars issued by Custodia Bank and Vantage Bank.

Royal Bank of Canada is rolling out AI across its businesses in an effort to become more efficient and generate more revenues. The Toronto-based bank recently created an internal AI accelerator that directly reports to CEO Dave McKay.

The Ohio-based lender is accusing Atlantic Coast Mortgage of stealing customers, while a Chicago bank is accusing Lower of raiding a Maryland branch.

For the second week in a row, the 30-year fixed increased by 11 basis points, Freddie Mac found, a result of reaction to oil price hikes from the Iran conflict.

U.S. Bank's merchant acquiring group this week named Wally Mlynarski — formerly of Bank of America and a former executive at Evalon — to the top job as AI sweeps over the industry and with fintechs and traditional rivals ready to pounce.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. rolled back a 2009 policy that banned nonbanks from buying failed banks, a move the agency says aims to widen the bidder pool and cut failure costs.

Brett Tejpaul, co-CEO of Coinbase Institutional, discussed how the crypto exchange plans to bring its trading infrastructure to more financial institutions.

The pace of applications and closings on new construction fell from January, while the average loan size also declined, despite a period of lower rates.

AI's rapid growth also means that even the best crafted plans might need to be adjusted in a few years if not months, Anthropic and Google leaders said at ICE Experience 2026.

Federal regulators issued proposals Thursday to implement the final elements of the Basel III accords, adjust the global systemically important bank surcharge and implement standardized approaches for risk-weighted assets. The changes would reduce capital requirements for banks of all sizes affected by the rules.

Two top housing platforms disagree on the best week to list in 2026, but both agree a rare window for sellers is opening this spring.

The SEC appears to be serious about moving from quarterly reporting to semiannual, but what if technology could provide a path in the other direction?

Two reports out earlier this month come to very different conclusions as to the feasibility of public blockchains for finance; the differences matter for global stablecoin adoption.

The SEC is reportedly preparing a proposal that would give banks and other companies the option to report their earnings every six months, adding urgency to a long-running debate over how firms communicate with investors.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and 10 former officials filed amicus briefs that provide legal heft to banks battling the state of Illinois over a law that removes sales taxes and tips from interchange fees.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, in a post-FOMC meeting Wednesday, said he intends to stay at his post until a successor has been confirmed, adding that he will remain on the Fed board until a Justice Department investigation into him is concluded.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., one of the most pro-crypto lawmakers in Washington, said any compromise on stablecoin yield would have to be limited to prohibiting rewards for stablecoin holdings rather than a broader ban.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's single-family updates include some roof coverage options somewhat similar to what's used in one of their other divisions.

Following similar glitches at Lloyds and the London Metal Exchange, a tech outage at UBS has renewed scrutiny on modern banking platforms.

Jurors determined that Aaron Luneke, the former chief financial officer of Bank of the Valley in Nebraska, obtained millions of dollars in loans — including from his own bank — by inflating contractor bills for a new car wash business.

Agentic AI commerce is under development at Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and other large payment organizations, and many of these will hit banks' servers. Are banks ready for the onslaught?

President Trump's executive order on mortgage credit calls on federal agencies to ease the path for eNotes, digital mortgages and remote notary, something lenders have been wrestling with for years.

Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott, R-S.C., said Tuesday that he expects the committee to work out a compromise between banks and crypto firms on yield-like rewards — a major sticking point in a market structure bill — by Friday.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chair Travis Hill said in remarks Wednesday that privacy and know-your-customer gaps remain for banks that work with public, permissionless blockchains, and that the agency may need to clarify how banks can interact with them. 

It won't be long before the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz begins to make itself felt across various aspects of banks' balance sheets. If it's protracted, a new oil shock will force a major reassessment of asset values.

Banks that don't offer buy now/pay later risk pushing customers — especially younger ones — into fintechs' arms.

The Trump administration wants to reverse fair-lending laws; the Fed's rate setters will do exactly what they've already told everybody they're going to do.

Over the course of its first year in office, the second Trump administration has neutralized the enforcement of key civil rights laws by reorienting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rules and eliminating "disparate impact" that allows banks to be penalized for the discriminatory effects of policies without proving discriminatory intent.

The former Rocket employee said she faced pressure to resign after requesting remote-work accommodations and leaves of absence to deal with health conditions.

Realtors and loan officers are wary of using artificial intelligence in place of a real estate agent, after a homeowner claimed to realize meaningful savings.

In an interview at ICE Mortgage Technology's annual conference, Bob Broeksmit also expressed skepticism of market dominance among just a few large lenders.

For the first time, we're expanding coverage powered by our sister brands Financial Planning and National Mortgage News.

The agency issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking for prediction markets shortly before Arizona filed criminal charges against Kalshi on Tuesday.

The $8.2 billion-asset bank says it's nearly finished building a platform that will provide gaming operators with real-time payment capability.

Union Bank and Trust is resolving claims from a 2023 software exploit that exposed customer data to cybercriminals.

A new annual compensation report by consulting firm Succession Resource Group explains how pay plans can boost — or detract from — the value of an RIA.

Three years after acquiring Bank of the West, BMO is preparing to open 130 branches in the Golden State, where it thinks it can achieve density and critical mass. The Toronto-based bank also plans to open 15 branches in Arizona.

The RIA technology platform builds on its acquisition of AI-powered liability-optimization fintech Sora Finance last year.

A Federal Housing Finance Agency report suggests it should have more authority over companies that work with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

BVNK's technology enables traditional currency and stablecoins to work together, and will enable the card network to improve distribution for clients that use digital assets.

Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould encouraged the audience at a crypto conference Tuesday to weigh in on the agency's GENIUS Act implementation rule and said a separate anti-money laundering proposal from OCC and Treasury would be coming soon.

Americans 70 years or older held 26% of the United States' $48 trillion in real estate wealth in the third quarter of last year, Redfin said.

The Federal Open Market Committee is widely expected to keep interest rates steady when it concludes its regular meeting tomorrow, but rising uncertainty about inflation in the wake of the Iran war is clouding the monetary policy outlook.

Bank of America has reached a settlement in principle to resolve a class-action lawsuit filed by victims of Jeffrey Epstein.

State attorneys general sued the Department of Housing and Urban Development as well as lender OneMain Financial; M&T Bank CEO Rene Jones talks about the changing nature of money, and the stone money of Yap.

Along with the AI tools, ICE Mortgage Technology also added 16 exception-based automation servicing agents with directly integration to its servicing platform.

Peter Chapman, chief technology officer at Grasshopper Bank, initially saw AI as "the best intern that you could ever have." Today the technology is taking on more advanced work at the bank.

More than a thousand years ago, merchants in imperial China revolutionized the concept of money by replacing metal coins with paper. A similarly transformative change — programmable money — is on the cusp of adoption today.

WesBanco in Wheeling, West Virginia, has hired a team of lenders in South Florida. It plans eventually to open branches in a bid to grab a share of the region's expanding deposit market.

Federal Judge David Nye sides with a broker fired over five years ago for placing trades without first obtaining his client's permission.

The criminal cases against these former 30 Under 30 honorees highlight the dangers of prioritizing hypergrowth narratives over proper due diligence.

Darnell returns to Regions, after fintech-focused stints at Visa and a community bank acquired by Huntington, as the bank accelerates its branch opening plans.

New York Attorney General Letitia James and 12 of her peers alleged Monday that the personal installment lender surreptitiously adds costs for unwanted products. OneMain denied the claims.

While it's moving away from embedding transactions in ChatGPT to funneling purchases through third parties, analysts say the artificial intelligence lab's shift doesn't dilute the threat large language models pose to traditional card issuers.

Trump's mortgage deregulation order drew cautious praise from lenders but alarm from consumer groups, who warn it could recreate pre-2008 financial crisis conditions.

The Alabama-based regional bank plans to open 135 to 150 branches over the next five years, while closing the same number. Regions' decision to accelerate its timeline by two years comes as large and regional banks try to capture more market share in the Southeast.

A coalition of Democratic attorneys general, led by California and Illinois, have sued the Department of Housing and Urban Development over a guidance that they argue will scale back enforcement to strict federal standards and threaten state funding to enforce fair housing laws.

The deregulatory executive order, which pairs with another targeting small players' home loan rules, impacts the FHFA, HUD and other agencies.

CEO René Jones told American Banker that private-credit firms are both partners and competitors. "Today, one of the concerns is that we don't have that full transparency, as much as we would like. And so we have to be cautious as we move in that direction," he said.

Penny Pennington has presided over a wide-ranging overhaul that has seen forays into alternative assets and banking but also heightened rates of advisor departures.

The most compelling innovation in banking today is not about flashy interfaces or speculative applications of technology, it is about strengthening core functions such as lending, payments, risk management and compliance.

The Fed explores ditching paper checks; enforcement actions against banks have plunged under Trump; the CFPB gets a stinging rebuke.

The Federal Reserve's recently published request for information on options for updating its check clearing apparatus has bankers fearing that it will opt to phase out paper checks entirely — an outcome that has community banks panicked.

A federal judge ruled that acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Russell Vought unlawfully refused to request agency funding from the Federal Reserve Board, dealing a procedural blow to a legal argument that the Fed can only fund the CFPB when it turns a profit.

A White House executive order issued Friday afternoon directing regulators to ease Dodd-Frank compliance burdens comes as a bipartisan housing bill advances on Capitol Hill.

The bank and fintech entered an agreement to expand open banking ahead of the CFPB's new 1033 rule and announced joint fraud-combatting product improvements.