Strategic planning

The credit card issuer benefited from consumer loan growth in the third quarter, but investors seemed spooked by increases in its marketing and technology costs.

More banks are boosting salaries to lure and keep workers in a highly competitive hiring market, but the pressure is on to trim expenses elsewhere to offset the pay hikes.

The sale comes nearly a year after the Cleveland bank said it would stop making consumer loans through car dealerships and focus more on relationship-oriented businesses. It plans to spend the proceeds on repurchasing up to $585 million of its own stock.

The company has long focused on customers with ties to the two states. But as it emerges from the pandemic seeking new lending opportunities, CEO Rajinder Singh says, “We are looking at markets from Boston all the way down to Atlanta.”

The bank's noninterest expenses fell by 8% in the second quarter — a sign that CEO Charlie Scharf is making progress in reining in spending that had been soaring in recent years amid heightened regulatory scrutiny. He ultimately hopes to reduce gross expenditures by $8 billion annually.

The global company says that a quicker-than-expected economic recovery is creating some opportunities to invest in businesses that will generate returns over time.

Wall Street’s pandemic-era trading boom could be drawing to a close, with JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon signaling a 38% decline in trading revenue from a year ago — a bigger drop than previously expected.

The four largest U.S. banks face investor pressure to deliver the returns of smaller rivals, but they complain that the federal deposit cap and capital rules make that difficult. So they're pouring money into wealth management, payments and digital banking to seize more market share in existing businesses and fend off nonbank challengers.

The efforts to bolster risk controls and simplify global operations will ultimately lead to better shareholder returns, Jane Fraser said, while urging investors to show patience.

The investment in Finitive is one of a number of technology agreements that the commercial lender has struck recently in an effort to broaden its reach.