Banking

Additional consolidation would not strengthen the industry, but would instead leave consumers with less choice and reduced access to financial services.

S&P lowers the bank’s rating to A-minus following Federal Reserve sanctions on growth; 13 are arrested after alleging defrauding banks of $530 million over seven years.

The information you need to start your day, from PaymentsSource and around the Web. Today: U.K. fintech investment sets record; Ripple expands in China; Venezuela pushes oil cryptocurrency; Google gets pressured on bitcoin ads.

The U.S. banking arm of the Dutch lender Rabobank has forfeited nearly $370 million for anti-money-laundering deficiencies that authorities say allowed untraceable money transfers on behalf of criminals.

Warburg Pincus has agreed to buy a majority stake in a mortgage and consumer loan origination and servicing platform owned by Fiserv.

Patriot National in Connecticut planned to build a regional small-business lending operation on its own — until it had a chance to buy a national platform.

Banks are capitalizing on changing consumer habits - and satisfying a pressing need to diversify their loan portfolios - with a spate of instant point-of-sale loans for everything from iPhones to home improvements.

Its latest partner, Mantl, has built software that lets consumers open accounts in four minutes. In such alliances Radius seeks expertise it lacks, gets heavily involved in product development, and tries to balance the spirit of innovation with the demands of compliance.

Investors, a former serial acquirer that has been sidelined by an informal order tied to Bank Secrecy Act compliance, has hired an executive from EverBank.

The information you need to start your day, from PaymentsSource and around the Web. Today: Visa-funded study says cities can save by dumping cash; Jackpot attackers face charges; Patreon goes behind the scenes; A new phishing attack emerges.

The SEC and CFTC ask Congress to expand federal oversight of cryptocurrency trading; the recent wild swings in financial markets may boost first quarter trading revenue.

"Ring-fencing" is designed to reduce risk, but will lead to major changes in transaction infrastructure and open a temporary door for fraudsters, according to Marcus Hughes, head of strategic business development at Bottomline Technologies.

At least eight banks are in various stages of formation, including two that have opened. While that is nowhere near the de novo activity of the early 2000s, it's a positively brisk pace compared with the standstill that existed for many years after the financial crisis.

Patriot National in Connecticut would become the latest community bank to ramp up small-business lending with its $81 million deal to acquire Hana Financial's much larger SBA lending unit.

The results suggest that even as financial institutions implement more sophisticated fraud-mitigation techniques, they have not been keeping pace with criminals.

Its small, locally owned banks were as decimated after the crisis as in any big city. But community bankers say changes to the economy and their lending practices offer them a shot at challenging the big banks that dominate their market.

The acquisition of Coker Capital Advisors would be the fifth nonbank deal for the Cincinnati company in the past year.

Shares drop nearly twice as much as other bank stocks and the broader market; agency denies it’s looking to end the investigation into last year’s data breach.

The information you need to start your day, from PaymentsSource and around the Web. Today: A cryptotown in Puerto Rico?; Nigel Green launches cryptowallet; Singapore Airlines debuts new loyalty program; Interac reorganizes.

It is unclear whether the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is abandoning its supervisory oversight of Equifax or just taking a back seat to the Federal Trade Commission as the latter investigates the credit bureau.