Banking

Each spring during the rush of annual meetings, a handful of financial institutions take heat from shareholders who demand new strategies, management shakeups and, at times, even a sale of the company.

A lawsuit filed by the American Fintech Council and two other trade groups has implications for other states that also want to keep out high-cost consumer lenders.

The credit card giant says that it is "proactively meeting" with advocacy organizations to gather feedback that would help with the creation of a community benefits plan. The National Community Reinvestment Coalition, which has negotiated 21 such deals since 2016, opposes Capital One's proposed acquisition of Discover.

First National has agreed to buy Touchstone Bankshares. The combined company would have more than $500 million each of deposits and loans.

The $4.2 billion-asset MCU in New York is working with Ameriprise Financial Institutions Group to connect members with the firm's network of digital advisors and offer investment planning options alongside its traditional products.

Lower commodity prices and decreases in government assistance are expected to push farm income lower this year and raise credit risk for banks.

Specialized large language models should be harnessed to help financial institutions identify and halt fraudulent activity. The best model would involve regulator-approved pooling of anonymized customer data.

The Justice Department and the CFPB are increasingly relying on emails among employees that contain discriminatory comments to strengthen their hand in cases against lenders.

Technology executives at financial institutions must strike a balance between jumping on new technologies while justifying their business case for the bank.

Harborstone Credit Union in suburban Lakewood, Washington, plans to buy Savi Financial. That's seven deals in less than three months this year; the highest full-year total was 16 in 2022.