Banking

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.

A relatively soft summer for the banking industry softened even more in August, sending American Banker's Index of Banking Activity (IBA) to its lowest level since January.

The IBA Composite Index dipped to 53.2 in August from a 55.4 reading in July. The August reading is the second-lowest since the IBA was launched in 2012, topping only the 52.7 level posted in January of this year.

Nearly every one of the IBA's components linked to the lending business gave up ground in the month. Components that track loan applications and approvals moved lower both on the consumer and commercial sides of the business and barely held above the 50-point mark. (The IBA is a diffusion index and scores above 50 indicate expansion.)

Also noteworthy in the August data was a sharp decline in respondents' local business conditions. The score for that component, which has not flashed a contraction in the history of the index, fell to 51.0 from 56.5 in the month.

The IBA has now posted three consecutive relatively tepid scores. September's survey could resolve whether those reflect a seasonal swoon or the start of a more challenging period for the industry.

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Mixed messaging on fin tech doesn't just emanate from the halls of Congress. It can also be found at the regulatory level as well.

Unity Bancorp in Clinton, N.J., has registered to sell up to $50 million in securities over time.

The $5 billion-asset company said in a press release Thursday that due to market demand it increased the principal amount of the fixed-to-floating subordinated notes from $75 million to $100 million.

Nicolet Bankshares in Green Bay, Wis., plans to close six branches later this year following its acquisition of Baylake in Sturgeon Bay.

Ripple, a provider of distributed ledger settlement technology, announced Thursday it has raised $55 million in Series B funding from several of the world's largest banks.

F.N.B. Corp. in Pittsburgh has selected more executives from Yadkin Financial in Raleigh, N.C., to take on leadership roles for its new markets in the Carolinas.

Regulations proposed by New York State regulators provide stricter and more specific guidance than banks have received from the federal agencies, especially in areas like data encryption and multifactor authentication.

The scorcher at Wells is giving some community bankers an opening to differentiate themselves from larger institutions that seem fee-dependent or "too big to manage."

Washington Federal in Seattle has named Erin Lantz, a general manager of mortgages at Zillow Group, to its board. Lantz, 37, worked at Bank of America from April 2003 to 2010, eventually serving as senior vice president of program management.

Wells Fargo is saying so long to product sales goals for retail bankers, and the industry may never be the same.

Increasingly, our conversations about digital banking are only about technology. We must expand our dialogue to include ways to make digital banking empathetic.

For large banks, the risks of partnering with marketplace lenders do not matter. But small community banks can't afford to partner with competitors angling to poach their customers.

Pilot Bank in Tampa, Fla., has recruited Rita Lowman, the chief operating officer of C1 Bank in St. Petersburg, Fla., to be its COO.

John Stumpf was coasting toward a carefully planned retirement. But the outcry over sham accounts at the San Francisco bank has put him in a precarious position as he testifies in front of Congress next week.

Angel Medina has been promoted to chief executive at Gibraltar Private Bank and Trust in Coral Gables, Fla.

PNC Financial Services Group plans to increase consumer lending with its current tilt toward commercial loans generating lower overall loan yields.

Old Dominion National Bank in McLean, Va., has raised $20 million through a private stock offering.

The opening of its new 5,000-square-foot innovation lab marks a reaffirmation of the French bank's interest in blockchain technology. But that's just one of the research areas its people will be working in.