Huntington's Profits Rise, but It Boosts Reserves on War Worries
Huntington Bancshares bolstered its Federal Reserve cash balance by $4 billion amid heightened concerns over the Iran war, a move that trims its projected 2026 net‑interest margin by five basis points. Despite the reserve buildup, the bank posted a strong first‑quarter, with revenue climbing 34% to $2.59 billion and earnings per share beating forecasts. Capital‑markets revenue nearly doubled to $132 million, and fee income surged, prompting an upgrade to its 2026 non‑interest income growth outlook to 31‑33%. The stock remained flat around $16.83.
Allowing Retroactive Mortgage Portability Would Be a Dangerous Error
Policymakers are debating retroactive mortgage portability, which would let borrowers transfer low‑rate loans from 2020‑2022 to new homes. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, Congress, and an executive order are all reviewing the concept. Analysts warn that rewriting existing contracts would...
First Citizens to Drop SVB Name, 3 Years After Crisis
First Citizens Bancshares, the $236 billion‑asset acquirer of Silicon Valley Bank, announced it will retire the SVB brand by the fourth quarter of 2026. The move follows three years of operating the failed bank as a distinct division and aligns the...
Easing Capital Rules Will Require Banks to Rediscover Self-Discipline
U.S. regulators have softened the Basel III endgame, cutting capital buffers for both global systemically important banks and smaller institutions. The change coincides with a surge in AI‑driven cyber attacks, with 90% of financial firms reporting more incidents and global fraud...
Unpatched AI Flaw Poses Risk to Banking Sector
Security firm OX Security uncovered a critical flaw in Anthropic's Model Context Protocol (MCP) that lets AI agents execute arbitrary host‑machine commands via the default "stdio" setup. Anthropic has declined to patch the underlying code, placing the onus on developers—particularly...
Capital One Sees Opportunities. Investors Want Guidance.
Capital One reported Q1 2026 earnings with net income rising 2% to $2.2 billion despite a 2% drop in revenue to $15.2 billion, missing EPS consensus. The bank completed the migration of its debit‑card customers to the Discover network, finalizing the $51.8 billion...
Credit Card Issuer Mission Lane Applies for Bank Charter
Mission Lane, a credit‑card fintech, has filed an application with the OCC for a limited‑purpose CEBA credit‑card bank charter and FDIC deposit insurance. The move marks the first CEBA credit‑card bank charter request in roughly twenty years, targeting an estimated...
Three Under-the-Radar Takeaways From Big-Bank Earnings
Big‑bank earnings season revealed three under‑the‑radar trends. Banks are grappling with roughly $40 billion of excess capital as regulators consider easing capital rules, prompting accelerated share buybacks and plans for broader business investment. Deposit funding costs have stalled their recent decline,...
Banks Should Move Forward on AI with Eyes Open to Potential Risks
Banks are urged to actively experiment with artificial intelligence, but to do so with disciplined governance and deep domain expertise. While AI promises efficiency gains in fraud detection, underwriting and real‑time decisioning, its known weaknesses—hallucinations, inaccuracies and opaque reasoning—can be...
FedNow Tries to Take Its Domestic Success Global
The Federal Reserve is proposing a rule change that would let FedNow members use non‑Fed intermediaries to handle the international leg of cross‑border payments, while keeping the domestic settlement instant. FedNow, launched in 2023, now has about 1,700 member banks...
Regions Sees Profits Grow as Business Lending Picks Up
Regions Financial Corp. posted a stronger first‑quarter, with net income up 14% to $559 million and adjusted earnings of $539 million, driven by robust commercial and CRE loan growth. Credit quality improved, allowing the allowance for credit losses to shrink to $91 million,...
Lawmakers Spar over GSE Credit Score Modernization Plans
The House Financial Services Committee heard testimony on the GSEs’ plan to modernize credit scoring by eventually adding both VantageScore and FICO 10T to mortgage underwriting. Industry advocates argue the new models will increase competition, while consumer groups warn that premature...
This Means (Economic) War
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signaled that if diplomatic talks with Iran collapse, the administration will launch an intensified economic campaign, leveraging sanctions as a “financial bombing” strategy. The move comes as the International Energy Agency warns Europe faces a...
Banks Won't Get Serious About Climate Risk Until GSEs Make Them
Former FHFA chief economist Alexei Alexandrov argues that climate risk in U.S. mortgages will only be addressed when the government‑sponsored enterprises (GSEs) embed forward‑looking insurance costs into underwriting. Escalating flood and wildfire exposure is already driving higher premiums and pressuring...
The Local Bank Branch Is Not Quite Dead
Bank branches are not dead; major lenders like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America continue to open new locations despite a wave of closures in smaller towns. The physical lobby is evolving into a lounge‑style space, emphasizing relationship‑building over traditional...
Better Credit Quality Lets M&T Lean Into Buybacks
M&T Bank reported a stronger first‑quarter, with net income up 14% to $664 million and earnings per share of $4.13, beating expectations. Credit quality improved markedly, as charge‑offs fell to $105 million, the lowest level since early 2024, allowing the bank to...
Fed's Barr Says Tariffs, Geopolitics Weigh on Rural Areas
Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr warned that recent tariff shifts and the Iran‑related conflict are creating short‑term cost pressures for rural America, especially in agriculture. He highlighted a 38% drop in U.S. soybean shipments to China, a 55% surge in...
Cornerstone Capital Bank Adds Employee Stock Ownership Plan
Cornerstone Capital Bank announced a qualified employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) that gives staff a direct stake in its privately held parent company. The plan, limited to internal employees and affiliates, follows years of preparation and is positioned as a...
Exclusive: HSBC Extends Tokenized Deposit Service to US
HSBC is extending its tokenized deposit service to the United States, adding the market to the four regions where the product already operates—Hong Kong, Singapore, Luxembourg and the U.K. The on‑chain offering lets corporate clients move money instantly across domestic and...
ICBA Outlines Wins, Concerns in Housing Policy Push
The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) welcomed parts of the House’s Housing for the 21st Century Act that promote tiered examinations for smaller lenders, while flagging gaps in the Senate’s small‑loan incentive proposal, which lacks clear funding and sets...
Former Fed Official Argues Against Fed Independence
Former Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Randal Quarles told a Shadow Open Market Committee audience that the legal shield preventing presidential removal of Board members should be scrapped, but argued the Fed’s decentralized structure would still keep monetary policy insulated from...
Securitize Appoints Former SEC Official as President
Securitize has appointed former SEC Markets and Trading Director Brett Redfearn as its president and board member, bolstering the firm’s regulatory credentials ahead of a planned public listing. The tokenization fintech is pursuing a SPAC merger that values the company...
FBI: Real Estate Cyberfraud Rises with More AI, Crypto Scams
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center reported that real‑estate cybercrime losses surged to $275 million in 2025, a 59 percent rise from the previous year. AI‑enabled scams and cryptocurrency fraud accounted for a growing share of the losses, with 115 AI‑related incidents...
BayCom in California Replaces Its Senior Leadership Team
BayCom Corp., a $2.6 billion‑asset bank based in Walnut Creek, announced an abrupt overhaul of its senior leadership, replacing its long‑time CEO, COO and CFO with three former PacWest Bancorp executives. The new team—William Black as executive vice‑chairman, Christopher Baron as...
Why Banks Like Tokenized Deposits
American Banker’s analysis shows tokenized deposits are gaining traction faster than stablecoins among U.S. banks. Nineteen of the 50 largest banks are developing tokenized‑deposit strategies, compared with 15 pursuing stablecoins, and four banks already offer deposit tokens versus one stablecoin...
FDIC Rescinds 2023 Guidance on Nonsufficient-Fund Fees
The FDIC announced it is rescinding guidance FIL‑32‑2023, which warned banks that charging multiple nonsufficient‑funds (NSF) fees for a single transaction could be deemed unfair or deceptive under the Federal Trade Act. The agency said the guidance was overly broad...
Debt Collectors Sue California Regulator over Licensing Fees
ACA International, the trade group for debt collectors, has filed a proposed class action against California's Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) challenging the agency's licensing fees. The suit seeks to halt enforcement of the fees and obtain refunds,...
Reputational Risk Rule Shows Why Subjectivity Is so Hard to Ban
The FDIC and OCC finalized a rule that bars bank examiners from issuing complaints based solely on reputational risk, except when the issue directly threatens a bank's financial or operational condition. The exception expands supervisory discretion beyond the original proposal,...
The OCC Must Act Before Banks Lose Out on the Crypto Custody Market
The OCC must create a regulatory framework for on‑chain crypto custody and yield products before banks lose deposit customers to decentralized alternatives. On‑chain vault infrastructure can automatically deploy idle balances into market‑rate yields, eroding the traditional subsidy banks provide. Historical...
Bitcoin's Value Is About More than Who Created It or What It Costs
A New York Times analysis by reporter John Carreyou argues that cryptographer Adam Back matches the writing style of Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, and could be the elusive founder. Back publicly denies the claim, and the article notes that definitive proof would...
Fifth Third Official: AI Will Help Banks 'Out-Code' Vendors
Fifth Third Bank’s consumer‑lending head Jay Plum says AI will let banks "out‑code" legacy core providers and automate risk reviews, turning the annual exam scramble into continuous "mini reviews." He highlighted that AI‑driven customization can differentiate customer experience and reduce loan...
White House Says Stablecoin Yield Won't Hurt Bank Deposits
The White House Council of Economic Advisers released a report showing that prohibiting stablecoin issuers from paying yield would raise bank lending by about $2.1 billion – just 0.02% of total loans – contradicting banking industry warnings of massive deposit outflows....
Visa Expands Agentic Commerce; Revolut Battles Italian Regulators
Visa unveiled Intelligent Commerce Connect, an agent‑agnostic on‑ramp that lets AI agents pay with Visa and non‑Visa cards, currently piloting with six partners including Aldar and AWS. Mastercard demonstrated another AI‑driven ride‑booking transaction in Thailand, underscoring its APAC agentic‑commerce push....
Treasury Proposes AML Rules for Stablecoin Issuers
The Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued a proposal that subjects stablecoin issuers to bank‑like anti‑money‑laundering (AML) and counter‑terrorist‑financing rules. The draft mirrors recent FDIC and OCC guidance, demanding risk‑based AML programs, SAR filing at the $5,000...
Capital One Pushes Deeper Into AI, Business Payments
Capital One has closed a $5 billion acquisition of fintech Brex, adding roughly 35,000 business‑banking clients and a suite of agentic‑AI tools. The deal follows Capital One’s $51.8 billion purchase of Discover, positioning it among the largest U.S. credit‑card issuers. Brex’s AI...
Big AI Spenders Are Reaping Large Productivity Gains
American Banker’s 2026 AI Talent Shift survey of 206 banking professionals shows AI adoption is delivering sizable productivity gains. Respondents who increased AI spending by at least 25% reported a 60% rise in employee productivity, while AI integration was cited...
Basel Draft Leaves Nonbank Warehouse Financing in Limbo
The Basel III draft proposes lower risk weights for banks’ drawn warehouse lines, potentially encouraging banks to retain more mortgage assets. Large, systemically important banks could see the weight fall to 65%, while standard banks may drop to 95%. At...
Florida De Novo Group Set to Exit the Starting Blocks
Portrait Bank, a Winter Park‑based de novo community bank, is set to launch in June 2026 after a "wildly successful" capital raise that netted $42 million from 248 investors, well above the $28 million regulator‑mandated minimum. The bank received conditional approvals from both...
Santander, Webster Name Key Business Leaders Ahead of Merger
Santander U.S. and Webster Financial have appointed post‑merger leaders as they await regulatory clearance for their $12.3 billion acquisition. The leadership slate mixes current Santander executives with Webster veterans, while two senior Santander managers will exit by June 30. If approved, the combined...
Judge Denies UBS Request in Dispute over Nazi-Looted Assets
A federal judge in Brooklyn rejected UBS's bid to obtain a court interpretation of the 1999 settlement that bars further claims over Holocaust‑victim assets. UBS sought clarification to pre‑empt potential lawsuits stemming from allegations that Credit Suisse concealed Nazi‑linked accounts...
Banks Prepare to Catch Human Traffickers at the World Cup
Financial institutions are gearing up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, deploying AI‑driven monitoring to spot human‑trafficking and scam activity in transaction data. The nonprofit The Knoble, working with more than 740 banks, has released a detection guide co‑developed with fraud‑tech...
Banks Are Missing Out on a Huge Wave of Infrastructure Finance Deals
Traditional banks ceded the fastest‑growing infrastructure finance segment—renewable energy—to private capital after the Net‑Zero Banking Alliance collapsed in 2025. Annual energy‑transition investment hit a record $2.3 trillion, while private equity and credit firms deployed multi‑billion‑dollar deals, outpacing banks constrained by Basel...
FCC Hits Telecom Firm that Enabled Bank Impersonation Calls
The FCC has issued a notice seeking a $4.5 million penalty against Voxbeam Telecommunications for allegedly routing tens of thousands of bank‑impersonation robocalls. The agency says Voxbeam transmitted about 61,000 spoofed calls between March 31 and April 3, 2025, with roughly 80% displaying...
Earned Wage Access Programs Are Simply Not Loan Products
Earned wage access (EWA) programs let workers withdraw earned wages before payday without interest, fees, or credit checks. A University of Oregon study found first‑time users increased net monthly income by $334, an 11.5% rise, with no rise in overdraft...
How Fifth Third Grew Embedded Banking Fee Revenue 53% in 2025
Fifth Third’s Newline embedded‑banking platform posted a 53% year‑over‑year increase in fee revenue for 2025, making it the fastest‑growing segment of the bank’s commercial payments business. The growth was driven by new partnerships with Stripe, Trustly, ADP and Corepay, and by...
Mortgage Credit Costs Jumped 10x in 4 Years: CHLA
The Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) reports that mortgage‑credit‑score costs have surged from roughly $150‑$250 per loan in April 2024 to an average above $500, a ten‑fold increase over four years. The association blames FICO’s price hikes as the primary...
AI Agents Are Coming for Money Launderers
DailyPay, an earned‑wage‑access platform handling about $30 billion annually, has deployed agentic AI from ComplyAdvantage to bolster its anti‑money‑laundering (AML) operations. The autonomous AI agent gathers and summarizes transaction data, feeding it to human analysts who retain final decision authority. According...
SoFi to Offer Combined Fiat and Crypto Enterprise Banking
Fintech lender SoFi announced the launch of SoFi Big Business Banking, an enterprise platform that lets companies manage fiat and cryptocurrency transactions within a single, nationally chartered bank. The service offers 24/7 settlement, supports the SoFiUSD stablecoin and major crypto partners such as...
Fed's Barr: Weakening Oversight Risks 'Race to the Bottom'
Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr warned that the current deregulatory push, especially cuts to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, could trigger a systemic "race to the bottom." He highlighted that the CFPB has lost roughly one‑third of its workforce, eroding...
Bowman Says Capital Changes Will Fuel Small-Business Lending
Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michele Bowman unveiled a proposed capital framework that could free up to $100 billion for small‑business lending by lowering risk‑weightings on bank assets under Basel III. The change targets community and regional banks that hold roughly...