Improved credit quality also helped compensate for flat loan growth at the Dallas bank.

The Columbus, Ga., bank reported higher fourth-quarter profit on growth in business loans and mortgage banking.

The San Francisco bank said Friday that it plans to close at least 400 branches over the next two years, part of an effort to reduce annual expenses by $2 billion.

JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and PNC reported lackluster revenue growth as higher trading fees and increases in commercial lending barely compensated for consumer-side challenges.

The San Francisco private bank reported double-digit gains in originations and noninterest income that led to a nearly 30% increase in profits last quarter.

Fourth-quarter profit dropped 5.4% as revenue from its mortgage business declined, Wells Fargo said Friday.

The Seattle company warned that fourth-quarter profit could fall more than 80% from a year earlier.

Big banks report; Why Goldman is different

JPMorgan Chase said profit rose 24% as bond-trading revenue climbed more than analysts estimated and expenses fell.

PNC’s fourth-quarter profit improved on higher lending to corporate customers for real estate and other loans.

Bank of America, the second-largest U.S. lender by assets, said fourth-quarter profit rose 43% as revenue from fixed-income trading increased and expenses dropped.

Visa closed its acquisition of Visa Europe in late June, ending a year of negotiations and years of speculation in the payments industry.

Outgoing CEO Charles Scharf said the acquisition of Visa Europe is starting to pay off.

Strong loan growth sparked higher third-quarter earnings at Synchrony Financial, the credit-card issuer that was spun off from General Electric.

PayPal Holdings Inc. said it will make more money in coming years than previously expected, easing concern that recent deals with credit card companies would suppress earnings.

Fifth Third Bancorp reported higher third-quarter profit on the termination of tax receivables from its Vantiv payments subsidiary and several other one-time items.

Amex posted third-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates and raised its full-year forecast for profitability.