Banking

Roughly two dozen countries have issued central bank digital currencies or have pilots underway. But until financial services firms strengthen the security of their mobile apps, these payment tools are unlikely to gain widespread acceptance.

Canadian banks have frozen just over 200 accounts under emergency powers invoked by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that are meant to end protests in Ottawa and at key border crossings, a government official said this week.

Paywallet CEO DK Sharma has raised about $14 million for a system that facilitates loans of up to $10,000, with installments coming out of borrowers' pay. It's meant to be an alternative to payday lenders.

After Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized two self-proclaimed separatist republics in eastern Ukraine, lenders such as SocGen, UniCredit and Raiffeisen look increasingly exposed to the knock-on effects of financial sanctions by Western governments.

With its $1.1 billion deal for Technisys, the onetime student-loan refinancer adds a banking-core software arm as it pushes beyond deposits and lending.

The credit union, founded in 1964 as the Conservative Baptist Credit Union, has changed its name to improve its appeal to prospective members.

Last year, just 30% of small-business owners received the total funding they were seeking, down from 51% just two years earlier, according to a new Federal Reserve survey. The findings suggest that two years into the pandemic, banks are having a difficult time assessing risk.

Year to date through Dec. 31, 2021. Dollars in thousands.

Karen Church, who became chief executive in 1993, will step down on Feb. 25.

Year to date through Dec. 31, 2021. Dollars in thousands.

The Los Angeles bank did not explain what it is investigating. It announced record annual earnings of $56.9 million in January, but news of the investigation and the uncertainty around CEO Alan Thian sent its stock price downward by 15%.

Citigroup has been pulling back retail operations from broad swaths of the globe, but its commercial banking business is finding new regions for expansion.

An ultracompetitive job market is forcing lenders to boost salaries, requiring many to caution investors that expenses could jump before profits from higher rates are realized.

In the year's first instance of a credit union buying a bank, Georgia’s Own Credit Union in Atlanta has agreed to acquire nearby Vinings Bank. The Peach State is home to more than 300 banks, making it ripe for such deals.

Klarna Bank is adding the option for customers to pay immediately at checkout in nine new markets while expanding its rewards program, as it targets becoming a one-stop lender for consumers.

The purchase of Vinings Bank in Smyrna, Georgia, is the year's first instance of a credit union buying a bank. There were 13 such acquisitions announced last year.

The Northeastern banks had aimed to wrap up their deal by Feb. 21, but the Federal Reserve — the last of the regulatory authorities they need approval from — hasn’t signed off yet.

Super Bowl ads' impact, another overdraft-fees ouster, and more in banking news this week.

The Providence, Rhode Island, bank expects to finalize its purchase of 80 HSBC Bank branches on Friday and complete a systems conversion over the weekend. Its pending deal for Investors Bancorp is on track to go through early next quarter, Chief Financial Officer John Woods said.