Branch banking

Banco Santander was eliminated from the bidding process for Citigroup’s Mexican unit, opening the way for a takeover by a local rival.

To make up for slow growth on their home turf, some credit unions are looking to other states for new members and loans — a move that rankles banks that see such expansion as overreach.

Bank of Montreal is raising the minimum wage for its U.S. branch and contact-center employees to $20 an hour, its second such pay bump in less than a year, as companies fight for workers in a tight labor market.

Rogers Communications is experiencing a widespread network failure in its wireless and internet services, causing payment systems and automated teller machines at banks to go down.

Truist Financial is raising the low end of its pay scale to $22 an hour, while JPMorgan Chase is implementing a floor of between $20 and $25. The wage hikes will likely put pressure on smaller banks to take similar steps to stay competitive.

Workers Credit Union installed a life-size hologram of “Olivia” in specialized locations to offload some mundane customer service tasks. It’s also catching the attention of passersby.

Consolidation results in harms such as higher prices, reduced worker bargaining power and increased barriers to competition. Because of that, regulators must carefully vet these deals.

The Dallas bank is joining the branch-consolidation trend that has accelerated during the pandemic, announcing plans to shutter 22 branches in Michigan, Texas and California.

Constraining consolidation will only hurt the goal of expanding consumers' access to banking services and credit.

Despite high inflation and a tight labor market, median compensation at certain banks hasn’t budged much, according to a new report from a left-leaning group. “We can give people a more fair reward for their labor,” one of the co-authors said.