Banking

A flood of fintech companies are promising to create a better experience for mortgage borrowers, forcing lenders to contemplate buying a vendor's software, building applications in-house — or even outright acquiring a company with digital expertise.

Renasant in Tupelo, Miss., is the latest banking company to get out of loss-share agreements with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Despite gains for the legalization effort in the November election, the disconnect between federal and state law preserves uncertainty for banks catering to pot businesses.

A California bank is planning to add mortgages and home equity lines to its product set.

Welcome to the new PaymentsSource Morning Briefing, delivered daily. The information you need to start your day, including top headlines from PaymentsSource and around the Web. Today: Square expands Caviar; the U.K. cracks down on crowdfunding; Canada's payments overhaul advances; IBM exec pushes artificial intelligence.

SmartFinancial in Knoxville, Tenn., has agreed to buy a branch in Tennessee from a division of Atlantic Capital Bank in Atlanta.

Lakeland Bancorp in Oak Ridge, N.J., has filed the paperwork to sell up to $50 million shares of common stock.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and our social media platforms.

The new chairman of Republic First was famously ousted from Commerce Bancorp because of conflict-of-interest concerns years ago. His new bank uses some Hill-related companies for marketing and other services but says that it has structured the relationship in a way that passes muster with regulators.

SAN FRANCISCO — Want to improve the customer experience? Start by making the employees' tools better.

The $22 billion-asset company said in a press release Thursday that it is looking to sell 8.4 million shares of common stock, though it could sell another 840,000 shares if there is enough demand.

Lawsuits can be costly and time-consuming for all parties, so many plaintiffs’ attorneys are now trying to win quick settlements for their clients by bombarding banks with letters simply threatening them with lawsuits. One plaintiffs’ attorney admits to sending 250 such letters a month.

A dozen publicly traded banks have raised more than $1 billion in recent weeks, taking advantage of surging stock prices. Additional banks are expected to follow, setting the stage for more M&A and other growth moves.

Already defending itself against a lawsuit challenging its member business lending rule, the credit union regulator now must grapple with a challenge to field-of-membership regulations. Some observers suggest the scope of the legal approach is unprecedented.

When BankMobile, the brainchild of Jay Sidhu and his daughter Luvleen, relaunches on a new platform in January, security — especially for the onboarding process — will be completely redesigned.

First Bancshares in Hattiesburg, Miss., has exited the Troubled Asset Relief Program, thanks partly to an assist from another bank.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency faces a challenging task as it attempts to add financial inclusion requirements to its pending fintech charter without following the exact blueprint of the Community Reinvestment Act.

AltaPacific Bancorp in Santa Rosa, Calif., has promoted its chief operating officer an even bigger role.

WASHINGTON — Development on the Common Securitization Platform has reached a point where Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may be able to issue a uniform mortgage-backed security sometime in 2018, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said Thursday.

The gender equality police — namely, the activists Arjuna, Pax, and Trillium, which targeted Silicon Valley earlier this year — is making moves on Wall Street now, starting with Citigroup, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs. Fed governor Lael Brainard encourages fintechs to tackle financial access and Cleveland Fed president Loretta Mester talks about the industry's past and future. Citi FinTech's Carey Kolaja celebrates its first product launch. Plus, people moves at Santander Consumer, Deutsche Bank and Bank of New York Mellon.