Banking

Banks and prepaid card providers have played an unwitting role in scams that have stolen billions of dollars from state unemployment insurance programs, whose payouts soared after coronavirus shut down the economy.

Before the coronavirus outbreak, financial institutions, wary of robberies, prevented customers from covering their faces. As branches reopen, public health concerns are forcing accommodations.

Industry figures have begun to speak out in support of demonstrations in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd and other African Americans, and new data is expected to show how the coronavirus impacted balance sheets.

On Mar. 31, 2020. Dollars in thousands.

On Mar. 31, 2020. Dollars in thousands.

The Credit Union National Association filed the class action suit in 2017 after roughly 147 million people had personal information exposed through a hack of the credit reporting agency.

Banks are looking to reduce their consumer credit risk exposure in the face of high unemployment; the drop in branch transactions is causing banks to rethink how many they need.

The U.S. division of HSBC Bank has added Apple’s iMessaging feature to its suite of customer service channels. Instead of waiting on hold, customers can trade texts with an agent.

Prior to the outbreak, members were banned from covering their faces inside branches for security reasons. Now institutions must devise ways to keep everyone healthy and safe.

Lenders have a role to play in the national reconciliation that must follow the recent racial unrest — providing greater access to capital for African Americans and other underserved groups so they can build wealth, activists said at a panel discussion hosted by Berkshire Bank in Boston.

As part of its commitment, the Minneapolis company said it will provide $100 million in capital to African American owned and operated businesses and organizations.

Big banks call for blanket forgiveness of PPP loans under $150,000; Wells Fargo struggling to stay under asset cap amid pandemic, CEO says; banks are getting aggressive — and creative — to boost profits; and more from this week's most-read stories.

The challenger bank OakNorth has been peddling its lending platform to U.S. banks for a year. When it saw COVID-19 on the horizon, it retooled to include a ratings system predicting how borrowers will be affected by the pandemic.

Bankers said legislative fixes to the small-business rescue program should help more borrowers secure loan forgiveness, though new demand will likely remain tepid because the process is still extremely cumbersome.

Butte Community Federal Credit Union, which previously served just one county, added five more after getting regulatory approval.

The race to provide coronavirus relief for small businesses is opening new routes to fund payments, including underused credit lines.

Past is not prologue, and a successful strategy for becoming a top-performing bank in 2020 is very different from what it might have been just six months ago.

The employee assisted authorities in currency trading investigations that cost the bank $714 million; Citi is eyeing an expansion of its commercial banking ops in Europe, Middle East and Africa as other lenders exit on coronavirus fears.

Once the payment holiday is over, monthly repayments are likely to be higher, leaving many borrowers struggling to manage their debt.

James Smith, who recently completed his gradual transition out of banking, was spearheading a public-private economic development plan for Connecticut when the coronavirus pandemic hit. The crisis made the need for the plan greater — and the job harder.