Turnaround Specialist Appointed Community Bank CEO for a 6th Time
BCB Bancorp appointed veteran turnaround specialist Thomas O'Brien as president and CEO, marking his sixth community‑bank leadership role. O'Brien, who has negotiated the sale of five banks for a total of $1.55 billion, will address BCB’s credit‑quality issues after a 2025 loss of $12.5 million and $43.1 million in charge‑offs. The board cited the need to accelerate risk discipline, and investors responded, lifting BCB’s shares about 10% to $11.44. O'Brien expects a 90‑day learning period before unveiling strategic changes.
Wells Fargo's Digital Platform Aims to Help Clients Do Less, Not More
Wells Fargo’s Vantage platform now handles roughly $2 trillion in monthly transaction volume for about 92,000 companies and 1.7 million users. Traffic surged 222% in 2025 compared with the prior year, reflecting rapid adoption across startups to multinationals. The platform’s design eliminates the...
Huntington Builds All-in-One Payment Platform for Small Business Customers
Huntington National Bank, a $225 billion institution, is piloting Payments Connect, an all‑in‑one platform that merges invoicing, card and ACH payments for small‑business customers. The tool lets merchants generate digital invoices with instant payment links, track receipts, and pay vendors—all within...
How Ally Widened Profits by Narrowing Its Focus
Ally Financial, under CEO Michael Rhodes, reversed its diversification push by shedding its mortgage and credit‑card units and concentrating on auto lending and its online bank. The strategy paid off: Q1 2026 net income jumped 42% year‑over‑year to $319 million, and total...
Visa's Local Partners Fill Cardless Gaps in Business Payments
Visa has teamed with cross‑border fintech PingPong to launch a card‑to‑account payment service under its Business Payment Solution Provider (BPSP) platform. The offering lets corporate buyers settle supplier invoices with Visa commercial cards even when the supplier does not accept...
SEC's Atkins Touts Coordination with CFTC
SEC Chair Paul Atkins announced a new era of coordination with the CFTC, unveiling a joint "Project Crypto" to clarify which digital assets are securities. He also introduced an "innovation exemption" for tokenized listed securities and a proposal to replace...
Commercial Cards Are Booming. How Can Banks Take Advantage?
The commercial card market, valued at about $150 billion in 2025, is projected to double to roughly $300 billion by 2033. Fintech entrants such as Brex, now owned by Capital One, are siphoning corporate‑card customers and forcing banks into a defensive posture....
Fed's Cook 'Prepared to Raise Rates' If Inflation Persists
Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook warned that the Fed is prepared to raise interest rates if inflation does not ease, citing five years of above‑target price growth and the inflationary impact of the Iran‑related oil price surge. Her remarks underscore...
FBI: Phishing-as-a-Service Kit Hijacks Microsoft 365
The FBI has flagged a new phishing‑as‑a‑service kit called Kali365 that hijacks Microsoft 365 accounts by stealing the access token issued after a successful multifactor authentication (MFA) check. The kit exploits Microsoft’s device‑code sign‑in flow, allowing attackers to bypass MFA and...
Sponsor Bank for Wise, Crypto.com Told to Fix AML Program
The OCC issued a consent order requiring Community Federal Savings Bank to rebuild its anti‑money‑laundering (AML) program after finding systemic control failures. The order targets the bank’s fintech‑partner line, which includes Wise’s U.S. dollar accounts and Crypto.com’s prepaid card. Community...
AI Beats Humans at Transaction Monitoring, Revolut US CEO Says
Revolut’s U.S. CEO Cetin Duransoy said AI now underpins the fintech’s compliance engine, outperforming human reviewers in transaction monitoring across 39 countries and handling KYC, AML and customer‑service queries. The firm’s agentic AI tackles roughly half of support interactions, freeing...
Attention Banks: Consumers Want More Payments Data in Apps
Consumers are increasingly demanding richer payment information within banking mobile apps, according to a new Datos Insights report. The study finds that 74% of users contact their bank over unfamiliar charges, and 67% say better transaction details would prevent disputes,...
OpenAI Wants Your Bank-Account Data; Can You Trust Them with It?
OpenAI has teamed with Plaid to let ChatGPT Pro users upload bank‑account data directly into the chatbot, a move that promises personalized finance assistance but raises privacy concerns. The article likens the trust required for such data sharing to the...
NCUA Moves to Block Illinois Swipe Fee Law
The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) has submitted a rule to preempt Illinois' Interchange Fee Prohibition Act, which would ban credit‑card operators from charging interchange fees on taxes and tips. The rule, sent to the OMB’s Office of Information and...
Amid Turnaround, Flagstar Rewards CEO Otting, Names Co-Presidents
Flagstar Bank extended CEO Joseph Otting's contract through March 2028, boosting his base salary to $1.4 million and granting a $10 million restricted‑stock‑unit award. The bank also elevated CFO Lee Smith and President Richard Raffetto to co‑chief operating officer roles, expanding their responsibilities without...