Coronavirus

Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks says financial institutions are needed more than ever to “sustain existing businesses” and help entrepreneurs rebuild. Meanwhile, reforming the Community Reinvestment Act, he says, can “unblock opportunities” in minority neighborhoods.

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.

One criticism of the CARES Act is that it provides relief only to borrowers with government-backed loans. Bills in New York and California would cover the remaining 30% of homeowners.

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.

Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks had suggested states and municipalities should end "indefinite shutdowns" meant to combat the spread of the coronavirus. The Democratic lawmaker said he was going against the public health recommendations.

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.

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

Credit union executives have led teams through past crises, but the pandemic has created new economic stresses and mental strain that CEOs must address.

As merchants are challenged to adapt their business just to survive, and consumers push for greater control over where and how they spend, the payments industry is in a position to align the various needs, says Splitit's Brad Paterson.

One criticism of the CARES Act is that it provides relief only to borrowers with government-backed loans. Bills in New York and California would cover the remaining 30% of homeowners.

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.

The policy comes more than a month after a different agency issued similar guidance for loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

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

The Defense Credit Union Council's annual event is the latest to be scuttled due to the coronavirus as state and national groups make conferences virtual.

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.

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way many industries conduct business — and that's especially true of the legal cannabis industry, which was already struggling in the U.S. to find the best way to handle noncash payments.

Merchants will need to adopt practices to curtail the surge in chargeback activity and protect their businesses, even after the worst of the coronavirus outbreak is over, says Chargeback 911's Monica Eaton-Cardone.

Walt Disney Co. has at least temporarily cut several reservation and incentive features tied to its closed loop payment system, revealing the complexities of mixing health guidance with tourism.