Banking

Cincinnati-based First Financial scooped up Westfield Bank near Cleveland after Westfield's parent company decided to exit the bank space and focus on its core insurance business.

A number of fintechs emerged amid the COVID-19 pandemic as a flurry of Paycheck Protection Program loan applications inundated banks. Now, the government is alleging many of them facilitated or committed fraud.

The Cincinnati bank aims to grow in northeast Ohio with the acquisition of Westfield. The deal is expected to boost First Financial to a $20.6 billion institution.

Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. has applied for an industrial loan company charter, joining General Motors and Ford in hoping for better prospects for approval under the Trump administration.

Barely two years after adopting a bank charter, NewtekOne in Florida plans to expand beyond its roots as an SBA 7(a) lender by growing its alternative loan program.

Although credit bureaus have collected this data for three years, it's only now being factored into assessments of consumer creditworthiness.

The Florida bank plans to expand its solar lending operations while Senate Republicans look to end most tax breaks for clean energy.

New York's attorney general announces MoneyGram will pay a civil fine to settle a lawsuit over its handling of remittance payments; Swedish buy now/pay later lender Klarna is getting into the telecom business; Truist Financial has hired Charles Alston to lead its new nonprofit hospital, higher education and government banking team; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

Lipkin, who built Valley National Bancorp from a small community bank into a regional institution with 200 branches in four states, passed away this week at age 84.

The credit bureau is working with Plaid to provide lenders with current and predictive cash-flow data for consumers that don't have an extensive credit record.