Banking

The bank is adding fintech-style buy now/pay later lending to other recent payment upgrades at its merchant acquiring unit.

But high costs and any downturn in the economy could weigh on lenders and their commercial borrowers in coming months, economists caution.

City National Bank has tapped Howard Hammond, a 17-year veteran of Fifth Third Bancorp, as CEO of the Los Angeles-based bank, replacing Kelly Coffey, who will move to a newly-created role as CEO of the bank's entertainment unit.

In addition to expense-reduction measures, the Wisconsin-based regional bank is selling almost $2 billion of mortgages and securities and will invest in its lending and deposit-gathering capabilities.

The Wyoming bank has launched its signature service, amid a legal tug-of-war with the Federal Reserve.

Superintendent Harris led the takeover of Signature Bank after it failed this spring. She joins Editor-in-Chief Chana Schoenberger to reflect on the lessons of this year's banking crisis, and how she is modernizing supervision.

Flagstar Bank promotes newly hired Jason Birnbaum; Finstar Financial tops $1billion-asset threshold with acquisition of Sitgler; digital platform Bluevine launches checking account for high balances; and more in the weekly banking news roundup.

Banks across the spectrum of size and location serve small businesses — but they all do it differently. At American Banker's Small Biz Banking 2023 conference in Nashville from November 13-15, banks of all sizes will come together to share ideas, learn from experts and hear from bankers in the field who are doing it best. 

The Cincinnati-based bank, which purchased a solar lender last year, is facing an investigation from 17 state attorneys general over the acquired company's lending practices and contractor network. One solar panel installer has gone bankrupt and faced complaints across the country.

Los Angeles-based Lendistry — in less than two years — became the largest Black-run 7(a) lender. Its CEO credits a concerted effort by the Small Business Administration to reach out to minority lenders and businesses, whose participation in the lending program is growing.

The proposal fails to account for the needs of small and medium-size businesses, which depend on banking data connectivity to keep their operations running.

Citigroup didn't admit any wrongdoing in its settlement of allegations by regulators that employees denied credit cards to people in Southern California suspected of being of Armenian origin.

The bank has seen its balance sheet swell in recent years and this quarter could become the first U.S. bank to reach the $4 trillion mark. Analysts credit it as a well-run institution, but the megabank's growth is sure to play into ongoing debates over big-bank capital rules and "too big to fail."

The company missed revenue projections, and it's trying to tap other funding strategies amid a "difficult lending environment."

The National Credit Union Administration approved the Young Community Federal Credit Union to begin operations in Kentucky soon. An organization in Maryland is shooting for a 2024 opening.

Proceeds from the sale provide the bank with "flexibility to evaluate and pursue various strategic initiatives to redeploy capital in support of our core banking business," Evans CEO David Nasca said.

The San Carlos, California, consumer lender said it's "exploring strategic options" for its credit card portfolio, discontinuing its investment and retirement products and sunsetting a partnership with Sezzle in addition to embarking on a new round of job cuts.

As U.S. credit card balances continue to march above $1 trillion, the number of newly delinquent credit card users now exceeds the pre-pandemic average and millennials and those with student or auto loans are driving the increase in past-due payments, the New York Fed said.

A.E.A. Federal Credit Union in Yuma said it would acquire West Valley National Bank in a bid to expand into Phoenix and Las Vegas.

The Zurich-based bank posted a net loss of $785 million for the three months to September, its first quarterly loss in almost six years, as costs to absorb Credit Suisse came in at $2 billion. However, client inflows in its wealth management business — which included $3 billion of that was at Credit Suisse's wealth arm — exceeded expectations.