Coronavirus

Chairman Jerome Powell said the Federal Reserve's actions during the coronavirus outbreak have been aimed squarely at helping U.S. workers, not Wall Street or wealthier Americans. He also said Friday that a new lending program geared toward middle-market firms is "days away" from getting up and running.

The Independent Community Bankers of America has asked NCUA's inspector general to review the agency's decision to change how low-income credit unions receive that designation.

Many lenders are paying close attention to liquidity and capital ratios. Others are trying to avoid overtaxing employees who process, service and handle forgiveness of the loans.

U.K. fintechs are using their technology to assist British businesses and consumers during the coronavirus pandemic by helping banks disburse emergency business loans, enabling e-commerce merchants to offer installment payments to consumers, and giving employees access to salary advances.

Though he acknowledged working remotely has definite advantages, CEO Michael Corbat says “our goal is to get our employees back."

Even after the Fed eased some limitations in April to promote emergency lending, the bank has had to make some “tough choices” to heed the $1.95 trillion growth ceiling set by regulators in the aftermath of its phony-accounts scandal.

The takeaway from the PPP rollout is that bankers must protect their reputations and limit their risk appetites as they participate in further government-backed rescue programs.

The bill, which now goes to the Senate, would give small businesses greater flexibility in how they use the funds; not everyone's on board with Otting's signature achievement.

The congressional showdown over the pace of rulemaking during the pandemic is a hardening of older positions on banking policy ahead of the 2020 elections, observers said.

As Erez Ben-Kiki and his wife tried to move her yoga business online — conducting classes via Zoom — they discovered that the process of monetizing such classes was surprisingly awkward. Ben-Kiki, CEO and co-founder of 2Key Network, spotted a gap in the market.

Minimizing outsourcing is one way to minimize uncertainty, making sure you’re the one in the driver’s seat of your plans.

The general structure of this year’s reviews is unchanged despite the pandemic. But a supplemental analysis of banks' response to the downturn could weigh heavily in evaluating 2020 capital distributions and making adjustments to the tests over the long run.

Customers' increased use of digital channels during the pandemic could compel the Minneapolis company to rethink its branch strategy, CEO Andy Cecere said.

The latest Credit Union Trends Report from CUNA Mutual Group predicts interest rates will be at record lows for at least two years and earnings are also likely to take a hit from record-high unemployment.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston published details on the terms for lenders and borrowers to participate in the facility intended to provide coronavirus relief funds to middle-market firms.

Payouts continue to be relatively generous, but that could change if the Federal Reserve demands banks bolster capital or the economy worsens.

The measure, which garnered near-unanimous support, would triple the period during which businesses can spend their coronavirus relief funds and make it easier for loans to be forgiven.

People who order groceries for delivery may be using digital payments or a plastic card to pay for their food, but the person picking up the groceries may be making a separate payment at the point of pickup — and in the process, influencing the global shift toward contactless payments.

About 78% of Mastercard’s European transactions are now contactless, and the company expects the shift in payment choice will be permanent.

The funds include $3.2 billion in loans that community development financial institutions had already approved during the PPP's second phase.