Banking

Bank robberies are becoming a thing of the past in cashless Denmark as the Nordic country recorded its first year of zero holdups in 2022.

With prodding from their regulators, U.S. banks made some progress on assessing climate risk, but did not move as quickly as activists wanted. At the same time, new federal support for clean energy provided opportunities for lenders.

In this month's roundup of American Banker's favorite stories: a deep-dive into how 2022 accelerated the decline of overdraft fees, Zelle's plan for addressing fraudulent transactions, the National Credit Union Administration opens the doors for fintech and credit union partnerships for lending and more.

Every issue of the magazine provides great features, opinion pieces and more about the issues keeping industry leaders up at night. Here is a look at some of the most exemplary coverage from the past 12 months.

Northeast Bank in Portland is putting capital earned from the Paycheck Protection Program to use, purchasing $1.1 billion of loans and launching a small-dollar Small Business Administration lending program.

This year saw far more abandoned deals than the previous one. The list includes State Street's abandoned purchase of Brown Brothers Harriman Investor Services and FVCBancorp's failed merger with Blue Ridge Bankshares.

Telhio Credit Union in Ohio hopes to help contractors verify their earnings when applying for loans and other financial services.

Banks saw dealflow weaken in 2022, both for deals on which they advised and for their own M&A involving other banks and fintech companies.

Lenders are bracing for possible setbacks in small business, office and hospitality lending. Consumer credit challenges may follow.

Executive coaching programs and specialized employee resource groups have helped financial institutions broaden their available pools of talent and ensure more representation throughout all levels of management.

Among U.S. financial regulators, Chopra is the one who bankers fear the most. His agency is expected to battle with the financial industry in 2023 on topics ranging from discrimination to fees and the bureau's funding mechanism.

The New Canaan Bank would have been the state's first de novo in more than a decade.

At the start of 2022, banks sat atop a flood of deposits. But as the year progressed, they faced greater pressure to pay higher rates, and the trends that drove the rapid shift show no signs of abating.

The Amesbury-based bank reported solid growth and profitability throughout Dave Mansfield's 9-year tenure. The decision followed news of losses tied to the bank's move into digital-asset lending, though the bank has yet to file a 10-Q for the third quarter.

Two long-awaited developments — the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's data access proposal and the Federal Reserve's faster payments network debut — are slated for next year. The combined effect on consumer banking might be more consequential than we now know.

Commercial loans at federally insured credit unions increased 25% to $132.2 billion in the third quarter of 2022, even though many institutions are facing a tough job market. Their answer is to find strong candidates within their own ranks.

Despite a slow year overall, banks announced several substantial merger and acquisitions in 2022.

Banks and other lenders revived special-purpose credit programs after racial-equity protests in 2020 prompted them to reexamine their services for historically underserved groups. Now they're taking those initiatives nationwide.

The U.S. should look abroad for innovative solutions to the problem of assessing the creditworthiness of borrowers with little formal credit history.

American Express, LendingClub and Webster Bank are among the financial firms that named new chief information officers and chief technology officers.