Fee income

While banks with less than $10 billion of total assets would not be forced to comply with the $14 cap, many would adopt it or make other changes to stay competitive with larger banks, survey finds.

A federal appeals court is putting the transfer of a lawsuit challenging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on hold pending the outcome of a hearing on the suit's appropriate venue.

President Joe Biden is expected to lean in on banking issues such as credit card late fees and overdraft fees Thursday evening in his annual address to Congress. However, he likely will avoid the topic of financial-sector stability, even amid a private-sector rescue of New York Community Bancorp.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will release a final rule Tuesday that is expected to save consumers $10 billion a year in credit card late fees. The rule is part of a larger effort by the White House to crack down on illegal fees and price hikes that President Biden will address in the State of the Union.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will take a bite out of bank profits in 2024 by issuing final rules on overdraft and credit card late fees, among other major rulemakings.

The Pennsylvania bank has agreed to sell its Exchange Underwriters subsidiary to World Insurance Associates for $30.5 million, saying that the deal will help pad its capital and liquidity.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that more consumers are being charged late fees, while determining that the average cardholder carried $5,288 in total credit card debt last year.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra said the CFPB is enforcing a long-dormant provision of Dodd-Frank in its advisory opinion prohibiting banks from charging fees to obtain basic account information.

With billions of dollars at stake, financial institutions weighed in on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's proposal to cut credit card late fees to $8, claiming, in part, that small banks and credit unions will suffer economic harm if the plan goes into effect as proposed. 

The custody giant benefited from rising interest rates, which helped offset choppy financial markets and a decline in fee income.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's outline for upcoming regulations reflects the efforts of Director Rohit Chopra to reduce credit card late fees and overdraft fees.

Entrepreneurs often call fees a drawback of their current financial institution, according to research from Arizent. Banks should focus on developing long-term relationships with these customers, rather than charging for every service, experts say.

The Providence, Rhode Island, bank expects to finalize its purchase of 80 HSBC Bank branches on Friday and complete a systems conversion over the weekend. Its pending deal for Investors Bancorp is on track to go through early next quarter, Chief Financial Officer John Woods said.

Consumer advocates have long wanted to restrict banks' ability to collect overdraft fees. The Empire State's new law represents a small but consequential breakthrough as they push for nationwide reform.

The sale to the Florida-based insurer Brown & Brown would give Berkshire Hills Bancorp an infusion of capital that it intends to invest in more profitable businesses, executives said.

Signed Thursday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the new law requires state-chartered banks to pay checks in the order they are received or from smallest to largest. The bill comes as banks nationally are revamping their overdraft policies.

The Rhode Island company has been snapping up banks and nonbanks alike. It says that buying Willamette Management Associates in Oregon will augment its 2017 purchase of Western Reserve Partners.

The best performers in our annual ranking of banks with $10 billion to $50 billion of assets benefited from a big lending push. But like their peers, the top 10 as a group saw their profitability slip last year compared with 2019.

The Pittsburgh company offset relatively flat revenue and lending in the second quarter with strong service charges, wealth management fees and a $1.1 million reserve release.

The Rhode Island bank endured a sharp decline in fee income from home loans, which had spiked earlier in the pandemic. But CEO Bruce Van Saun says the company is well positioned as the refinancing boom fades and the home purchase market becomes more important.