Expense management

Second-quarter profit improved modestly at Northern Trust as severance costs offset growth in trust and institutional services.

The Dallas company is in the middle of a dramatic turnaround after scaling back on energy loans and slashing expenses. Still, followers of the company seek assurances that the discipline will endure.

A yearlong effort to slash costs boosted profits at the Dallas company.

Trust income, bank card fees and deposit service fees led to double-digit earnings growth at Commerce Bancshares.

Energy sensors will let JPMorgan Chase master-control everything from office temperatures to sprinkler systems in an attempt to preserve the scale of its branch network but lower the costs.

Banks are making it easier to log in, adding expense trackers and simplifying payments as they try to get corporate clients to use mobile more.

One of the biggest challenges after a merger is deciding which people to keep and which to let go. Learning to identify certain habits and skills could simplify those decisions.

Royal Bank of Canada, the country’s second-largest lender by assets, is cutting about 450 positions, mostly at its headquarters.

Want to make your bank a top performer? Spending can be a more effective strategy for success than cost cuts, if done smartly. That’s the lesson from banks with $2 billion to $10 billion of assets. ranked here by three-year average returns on equity.

The company will record a $300 million charge to cover the elimination of three data centers and book $125 million in broader severance costs.