Economy

The Cleveland company is more than doubling an earlier commitment in order to support racial equity and environmental sustainability.

Harmening, set to take the helm of Associated Banc-Corp next month, is being asked to replicate the digital transformation he led at Huntington Bancshares. His career path is a signal to the industry’s rising stars that the road to the corner office includes hands-on technology work.

It's crucial small businesses continue to expand user experience improvements made during the first year of the pandemic, says NMI's Nick Starai.

In its final days, the Trump administration imposed limits on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s holdings of mortgages with loan-to-value ratios above 90% and certain other characteristics. Critics say the changes were unnecessary and disproportionately penalize borrowers of color.

With the pandemic driving the need for contactless payment options in health care settings, RevSpring has extended its Deviceless Payments offering to include point-of-service payments — turning payments into mobile transactions and bypassing the need for point of sale terminals.

Nonbanks had worried the end of the Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility would hurt their ability to lend to small businesses. On Monday, the Federal Reserve announced the facility would be extended for three months.

The Dallas company has given Summer Faussette, an external affairs executive, the additional role of national African American business development manager, with a special focus on networking with nonprofit organizations.

Six startups that seek to cater to Black and Hispanic consumers outside the financial mainstream are attracting heavy interest from investors. However, the new banks will vie with megabanks eyeing those same customers and with established minority-owned institutions suddenly brimming with new capital.

The backing from the Emergency Capital Investment Fund is meant to help financial institutions direct aid to lower-income communities struggling in the pandemic.

In remarks during CUNA’s online Governmental Affairs Conference, Vice Chairman Kyle Hauptman and board member Rodney Hood bemoaned the lengthy process necessary for launching a new credit union.

The agency issued a proposal moving the compliance date for the Qualified Mortgage rule revamp to October 2022.

The U.S. economy expanded modestly in the first two months of the year and sentiment among business owners is picking up as vaccinations bolstered the prospects for economic growth, the Federal Reserve said.

As government debt swells, the outer limits of what the U.S. can safely borrow are becoming less and less clear.

Brian Milton, who ran MUFG Union's digital bank, was named head of banking and would become CEO of Thrivent Bank, which plans to have a digitally focused platform and operate as an industrial loan company.

The payment processing company will offer loans and deposit accounts to its small-business customers through a Utah-based industrial bank.

In an analysis of the pandemic's impact on the housing market, the agency said nearly 10% of households could be at risk of eviction or foreclosure despite government programs to enable homeowners to delay their payments.

The mortgage giants were authorized to give just over $1 billion combined to the National Housing Trust Fund and the Capital Magnet Fund this year, the highest contribution ever. The amount reflects refinancing growth in 2020.

There's no overstating the impact the pandemic has had on travel, but there are innovative products that can help the recovery, says Nuvei's Yuval Ziv.

Community banks, which for years have relied heavily on commercial real estate lending, have been tightening underwriting standards, conducting more frequent loan reviews and stepping back from certain subsectors to minimize their credit exposure.

Already contending with stressed retail, hotel and restaurant loans, bankers are beginning to view office lending — historically a safe bet — as increasingly risky as companies of all types rethink their space needs.