Deposits

Shadows loomed over Credit Suisse and First Republic early Thursday, but the sector outlook brightened after billions of deposits were pledged to the U.S. bank.

After two high-profile failures and a liquidity scare, money is on the move from collapsed and suspect banks to destinations viewed as safer havens. Some banks say they're in position to score fresh funds, new customers and talented workers.

Buoyed by higher profits and an influx of deposits from prepaid corporate debit cards, Patriot National Bancorp appears to be nearing a deal that would boost its size and expand its digital-banking capacities, Chairman Michael Carrazza says.

The bank's tech-sector focus contributed to its rapid demise. But the reasons for its failure come down to the nuts and bolts of banking, and other banks may have similar vulnerabilities.

The abrupt downfall of Silicon Valley Bank prompted investors to question whether other banks that hold tech-related deposits could also be at risk. But one analyst said there could be opportunities for banks to add deposits from customers of the failed bank.

A disagreement over growth with its original banking-as-a-service provider prompted challenger bank HMBradley to seek a new and larger sponsor and purchase a new core.

The Dallas-based bank offered a more downbeat forecast than it did back in January, as rising rates have continued to put pressure on deposits.

The activist investor is crying foul, claiming the Dallas-based bank harassed one of his board candidates into withdrawing and rejected the nomination of another. The bank says the candidates failed to make full disclosures.

Nonbanks that refer to "deposits" and "APY" interest payments are drawing scrutiny from regulators, and some observers say Congress needs to clarify what nonbanks can say about their interest-bearing offerings.

A decline in deposits at many banks is putting upward pressure on loan-to-deposit ratios, a key metric of liquidity. The sharpest increases have come at banks with between $3 billion and $10 billion of assets.

Executives at Wayne Savings Bancshares and Main Street Financial grew progressively more comfortable with the idea of a deal during six months of talks, Wayne Savings CEO James VanSickle says.

BMO, PNC and Citigroup are all paying rates around 4% on high-yield digital savings accounts. To be eligible, though, customers must live outside of the banks' branch networks.

The agency should be asking why, in today's America, there is anyone who wants a full-service checking account but can't get one.

Banks that previously based more of their incentive compensation decisions on loan production are recalibrating this year. It is the latest sign of how competitive the deposit market has gotten.

The New York City Banking Commission will now require banks seeking access to municipal deposits to provide detailed plans about how they are combatting discrimination. The commission is also implementing a public comment process as part of its process for determining which banks are eligible.

Revisions in 2020 to the way regulators classify "hot" deposits struck some observers as risky, at least in theory. Silvergate seems to have made that risk less theoretical.

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, said it's temporarily suspending deposits and withdrawals of U.S. dollars using bank accounts, and will work to restart the service soon.

Coinbase, Paxos, MetaBank and PayPal all claim the primary purpose exception, which allows companies to place deposits at banks without limits applied to brokered deposits.

Uncertainty surrounding the regulatory approval process and overall economic conditions will act as a brake on bank mergers and acquisitions in 2023, says John Corbett, CEO of Florida-based SouthState.

As deposits grow scarcer, the Stamford, Connecticut-based bank's acquisition of interLINK earlier this month promises to yield billions of dollars in core funding it can put to work paying down borrowings or purchasing securities, CEO John Ciulla says.