Banking

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.

Fallout from the coronavirus pandemic is pressuring banks that have relied on expansion efforts and fee income to produce outsize investor returns.

The quarantine and Citi's shift from hardware to software tokens have led to a 300% spike in commercial clients' opening of accounts online as well as increased digital banking use.

Bankers have become more uncertain about how to serve marijuana businesses owing to confusion about which states deem them essential.

Digital banking has ramped up during the coronavirus lockdown but customers will seek somewhere to go as cities reopen. A branch could provide that safe haven.

Representatives of lenders as well as businesses that received pandemic bailout money told an oversight board Wednesday that delayed and confusing instructions from the government hampered the effectiveness of the main rescue program for smaller companies.

The bank’s Asia-Pacific chief backs law giving greater mainland control over the territory; the Center for Responsible Lending said big banks took in almost $12 billion in overdraft fees last year, with the bulk of it paid by lower-income customers.

The demonstrations following George Floyd's death in police custody are forcing the industry to grapple with how it can — or if it should —advocate for equality and better race relations.

The bill, which passed the House last week on a 471-1 vote, now heads to President Trump’s desk for his signature.

David Howard's leadership of the OceanFirst digital strategy and innovation team that has developed a robo adviser, an Alexa skill and other cutting-edge tools earned him recognition as one of American Banker's digital bankers of the year.

Two years ago, the Tulsa, Okla., company expanded its Native American casino lending business nationwide. It seemed like a great plan until the coronavirus pandemic struck.

Faced with limited growth opportunities and potentially mounting loan losses, banks are getting aggressive — and creative — to boost profits.