Banking

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.

The bank must make fundamental changes to avoid becoming the ultimate scapegoat for grievances about Wall Street's biggest banks.

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: Visa's opens tech in Africa; Pebble phases out; Brazilian card draws funds in a tough market; EU can't meet standards timeline.

U.S. banks are smart to take their time in embracing a model that cedes space to nonbank competitors and could put consumers more at risk for identity theft.

The post-election rise in stock prices has been a boon for investors, but it is also causing notable changes for financial institutions. Here are a number of ways that the rally can help — and hurt — the banking industry.

The $1.2 billion-asset NexTier said in a press release Wednesday that it will pay $2.3 million, or $531.55 a share, in cash for the $40 million-asset Manor.

Circle Internet Financial is deemphasizing bitcoin services to focus on global mobile payments, it said Wednesday as it unveiled a new blockchain protocol called Spark and messaging features for its existing app.

Biometric authentication company Veridium has named a former fintech executive from HSBC as its new CEO.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is expected to downgrade Wells Fargo's Community Reinvestment Act rating in January to "needs to improve," from "outstanding," according to a story by Reuters, citing unnamed sources.

The education-finance sector would have likely faced a challenging policy landscape under a Clinton administration. But its future is looking particularly bright now that Republicans are firmly in control in Washington.