Corporate finance

The Wilmington, North Carolina-based small-business lender is prepping a wider rollout of the business checking account it introduced in the first quarter. Chairman and CEO Chip Mahan said the move will allow the company to "nip at [its competitors'] edges as their customers feel less appreciated."

The regional bank said metropolitan economies across its central and western U.S. footprint are resilient, and new loan opportunities are abundant. Trepidation among competitors, too, is creating openings for the Oklahoma bank, its CEO said in an interview.

CEO Ryan McInerney touted the growth of Visa Direct and unveiled a fraud-scoring service called RTP Prevent, which is powered by artificial intelligence, while discussing the card network's earnings for its fiscal third quarter.

During the company's second-quarter earnings call, CEO Jim Ryan acknowledged employees' "resiliency and their commitment to supporting one another" after a gunman opened fire on a Louisville, Kentucky, branch in April.

Credit metrics are deteriorating as more cardholders fall behind on their payments. But bank CEOs detect few causes for alarm, saying they plan to stay in growth mode since most consumers have stayed current.

The regional bank told analysts that it has studied how much debt it would need to raise based on an effective post-reform capital floor of 6% of risk-weighted assets, and has determined that that increase in capital would be manageable.

The Dallas-based company, which saw $3.7 billion of deposits withdrawn after Silicon Valley Bank failed, now predicts average deposits will fall 14% to 15% compared with last year. However, the pace of outflow is slowing, say the bank's executives.

The company says young consumers, steady credit quality and a robust travel recovery will offset a weaker economy for small businesses.

The Ohio-based regional bank continued to drive loan and deposit growth in the second quarter. But lending activity is expected to ease while funding costs remain high, tempering net interest income expectations for the full year.

The Pasadena, California, bank expects to spend more on hiring this year, including the addition of some former Silicon Valley bankers. Anticipated loan growth and an uncertain economic horizon prompted the bank to increase reserves for bad loans.