Banking

As recently as a few months ago, many observers predicted a surge of bank mergers this year. But longtime obstacles to dealmaking are still there and have been joined by new ones.

At a time of mild or nonexistent loan growth, middle-market borrowers in the Lone Star State are providing a boost to Fifth Third Bancorp and Huntington Bancshares.

The Alabama regional lender says it expects expenses to taper off this year and anticipates challenged loans will gradually rise to historically average levels.

Truist Financial's top executive leadership team announces departures; First Horizon's chief credit officer is retiring; Ferry teams with Highnote to roll out a new Visa-branded payroll card; and more in the weekly banking news roundup.

The Dallas-based regional bank tapped a client for its co-pilot capabilities, where employees can message a bot instead of a human to get tech assistance.

Leaders of ORNL Federal Credit Union are piloting Zest AI's new artificial intelligence-powered assistant to ensure equitable underwriting practices and measure performance against similar institutions.

The Cleveland-based bank is projecting steady growth in net interest income even as credit losses remain manageable. But Chairman and CEO Chris Gorman also said that he thinks a recession is likely.

The first-quarter increase involved commercial real estate loans, including some problematic multifamily loans and an office credit, but none of the criticized loans were to consumers, officials at the Dallas company say. Further CRE deterioration is anticipated.

The Detroit-based company is exploring ways to make more consumer auto loans without running afoul of stricter capital standards that are expected from the Federal Reserve. Possible approaches include more securitizations and the use of credit risk transfers.

Charge-offs and nonperforming loans rose at the Georgia bank in the first quarter. But it blamed the problem on one large client and said the matter has been resolved.