Credit quality

Franklin Financial CEO J. Myers Jones is trying to reduce his company's exposure to shared national credits and health care loans, which have enjoyed solid yields but come with a downside.

Susan Riel succeeded Ronald Paul as CEO of the Maryland bank shortly before questions surfaced about credit quality and lending practices.

Paul Murphy took full responsibility for a recent spike in charge-offs at the Houston company. His challenge in 2020 is keeping credit issues in check.

One found a buyer, another announced plans to retire, and others took steps to reinvent their banks.

Testing shows an overreliance on machine learning data can unfairly harm credit scores.

Many business customers are putting off expansion because they can’t find enough workers to fill available jobs.

One recent study finds consumers have flipped their point-of-sale preference from credit to debit. That could be a sign of fears about a possible economic downturn.

One-time expenses at a handful of large banks marred an otherwise solid quarter, while higher charge-offs point to possible credit-quality concerns.

Several banks have reported spikes in substandard loans, special mention credits and watch-list relationships. What does it all mean?

Such credits, which reflect borrowers with financial challenges, increased significantly during the third quarter.

If the no-premium agreement announced by First Horizon and Iberiabank this week is a sign that sellers’ asking prices will come down, then Regions might reconsider its anti-M&A stance, a company executive said.

Shares in the lender fell after it reported lower third-quarter profits, said nonperforming assets rose and cautioned that it had lost multifamily loan deals to competitors offering easier terms.

The nation's largest private student lender plans to curtail its use of forbearance, a move that could well save some borrowers money but could also result in more defaults.

The credit card issuer, which recorded an 11% decline in net income last quarter, took one-time charges in connection with a U.K. sales scandal, the start of a new partnership with Walmart and a recent data breach.

The online lender posted a profit for the sixth consecutive quarter, as higher margins helped offset a decline in loan originations.

Executives say they are passing on more loans as bank and nonbank competitors cut rates and forgo traditional safeguards.

It has already been modifying more problem loans and investing in efforts to recover charged-off loans, and now the credit card lender is ready to tighten underwriting in case the economy weakens.

The company says the upgrade will support future digital investments. It also said Tuesday that third-quarter profits climbed 8% but reported a sharp increase in criticized business loans.

While demand is strong and loan performance generally remains solid, the prevalence of longer loan terms has sparked concern that losses will eventually spike.

Its quarterly results show lower rates and emerging credit risks can be overcome. Whether most banks have all the same levers to pull is another matter.