Banking

The National Credit Union Administration granted approval to expand its charter and membership to Baltimore City and the counties of Baltimore, Carroll, and Harford, Maryland.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank is adding three branches in Lexington, with plans for a fourth next year.

On Mar. 31, 2021. Dollars in thousands.

On Mar. 31, 2021. Dollars in thousands.

Fears of widespread credit losses have largely subsided, but demand for new commercial real estate loans remains lackluster because many companies are sitting on so much cash they don’t need to borrow. Meanwhile, competition from private equity groups and other nonbank lenders is escalating.

Eric Brubaker is leaving after 25 years with the organization. Executive vice president Carrie Iafrate was named his successor.

Any bank that engages in auto, mortgage or other retail lending should develop a comprehensive program to identify potential risks of noncompliance with consumer protection rules and take corrective actions before the Biden-era Consumer Financial Protection Bureau comes calling.

Chief operating officer Sam Sidhu takes over as president and chief executive on July 1. He has a list of 25 potential markets the Pennsylvania bank might enter, and has already begun hiring commercial bankers in Texas, Florida and Illinois.

Southern Bancorp's CEO said money from Square would help his bank continue serving underserved communities.

Derek White, former financial services head for Google Cloud, wants to take Galileo — the SoFi unit that provides tech services to challenger banks — international and into new niches outside banking.

Harold Dixon will leave the role after 24 years at the Santa Fe credit union. Andy Ramos, senior vice president at Redwood Credit Union in California, will succeed him.

Though the community bank has most of its branches in California and is buying a Florida bank, CEO Scott Kavanaugh is eager to pursue targets in the Lone Star State after moving the corporate headquarters to Dallas.

Klarna Bank AB is raising fresh funds led by SoftBank Group that value the Swedish fintech startup at $45.6 billion, just months after two separate investment rounds sent the company’s valuation soaring.

Thousands of Americans volunteered to check the accuracy of their credit reports and many discovered mistakes, according to new research from Consumer Reports. The results provide fresh ammunition to critics of the major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

The retiring head of the National Association of State Credit Union Supervisors spent years working to rein in a contentious funding mechanism used by the National Credit Union Administration that drew money from the Share Insurance Fund.

Just as small and midsize businesses had to adapt to survive the coronavirus emergency, lenders need to adopt new underwriting practices and technologies that modernize how they evaluate borrowers' creditworthiness.

The deal for the Salt Lake City-based home improvement lender, which Home Depot tried to acquire more than a decade ago, is part of a larger effort by Regions Financial to diversify its home lending business.

The San Francisco company has promoted or hired several bankers to steer growth in retail and commercial banking operations just months after completing its purchase of Radius.

Dave, a banking startup that’s been backed by investors including Mark Cuban and Capital One Financial, agreed to go public in a deal with a blank-check firm that values the company at $4 billion.

Capital One and a few others are emulating upstarts like Chime and Varo, which let customers access their paychecks two days before payday. But loss of overdraft income and potential liability for errors dissuade many banks from changing their ways.