Banking

Bank of America’s online-banking platform went down for several hours Friday, leaving thousands of customers locked out of their accounts before service was restored.

The move is one of several the company announced this week and appears to position Anthony Restel, the current chief operating officer, as a potential successor to CEO Bryan Jordan.

The Iowa credit union's deal for Home Savings Bank in Madison, Wisconsin, is the 11th this year to feature a credit union buying a bank.

Having the U.S. Postal Service offer bank accounts is a bad idea for many reasons, including privacy concerns. The USPS, which has reportedly spied on Americans' social media accounts, cannot be trusted with a window into their finances.

Eagle said it would pay $41.3 million for First Community Bancorp. It would be the bank's fourth purchase of a Montana bank since 2018.

By limiting the credit offered to new borrowers during the pandemic, banks created an opening for installment lenders like Affirm, Afterpay and Klarna.

If Congress fails to resolve the partisan stalemate by a crucial Oct. 18 deadline, the consequences for the financial industry may be higher borrowings costs, reduced credit supply and plummeting Treasury bond values.

Banks generally did not curtail loans to existing cardholders last year despite mass unemployment, according to new research by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The results contrasted with what happened during the Great Recession.

The companies said they are still waiting for the Federal Reserve to approve the deal, which was announced nearly a year ago and was scheduled to close by Oct. 15. The new deadline is March 1.

The company has agreed to buy Fortune Financial, which would give it a toehold in the St. Louis area.

Rohit Chopra, a liberal consumer watchdog, was approved as the agency’s director nine months after the Biden administration first announced him as the nominee.

The National Credit Union Administration issued two prohibition orders and two notices of prohibition, bringing the yearly total to 20.

Acting Director Sandra Thompson said the Federal Housing Finance Agency is considering changes to the risk-based fees that critics say have disproportionately hurt minority borrowers of low down-payment loans.

The $63 million-asset Texas Federal Credit Union in Dallas is combining with the $1.6 billion-asset Texas Trust Credit Union in nearby Arlington.

The account, which is similar to those offered by numerous other banks and credit unions, has been certified as meeting certain affordability criteria for low-income people.

The cash and stock deal, which is expected to close early next year, would nearly triple the number of branches Mississippi-based BancPlus has in the greater New Orleans area.

The dispute turns on the “discharge for value” defense, established by a 1991 New York court ruling that creditors can keep money sent to them in error if they didn’t realize the payment was a mistake.

Stifel Financial agreed to buy the fixed-income brokerage Vining Sparks and its affiliates, adding about $150 billion in annual trading volume and further bulking up its banking-advisory capabilities.

The Federal Reserve’s efforts to update supervision policy can result in institutions having the flexibility they need to compete with fintechs, according to Gov. Michelle Bowman.

In many cases, stopping fraud in the moment is costly — and any transactions a bank flags incorrectly could alienate its best customers, a Bangor Savings Bank executive said at American Banker's Card Forum.