Nubank Hires Former TikTok Executive as Marketing Director
Nubank appointed Kim Farrell, former TikTok global head of creators, as its new global marketing director. The hire comes as the Brazilian neobank prepares to launch U.S. operations under a recently approved de novo charter. Farrell will craft branding and partnership strategies for the U.S. and other markets, reporting to co‑founder and U.S. CEO Cristina Junqueira. Nubank, which now serves 131 million customers and boasts 1.4 million TikTok followers, aims to leverage her social‑media expertise to accelerate its international expansion.
A Texas Banking Entrepreneur Makes Deal to Start Third Act
Dean Bass, a veteran Texas banker, is leading a group to acquire Lone Star Bank, a $191 million‑asset community bank with four Houston‑area branches. Bass previously built Spirit of Texas Bank into a $3.3 billion institution before selling it for $581 million in...
OCC's Gould Doubles Down on State Preemption
Comptroller Jonathan Gould reaffirmed the OCC's commitment to federal preemption of state banking rules, citing the agency’s Lincoln‑era origins. He announced an aggressive filing strategy of amicus briefs and court filings to solidify the OCC’s legal position. Gould dismissed criticism...
Zions' Revamped Tech Leadership Team Eyes AI, Stablecoins
Zions Bancorp has restructured its technology leadership after longtime CTO Jennifer Smith departed, assigning CIO Margaret Mayer and chief transformation officer Ken Collins to jointly run the enterprise technology unit. The bank completed a decade‑long core systems modernization in 2024,...
Advocates Urge Judge to Block $68m Colony Ridge Settlement
Eight civil‑rights nonprofits have filed an amicus brief urging a Texas federal judge to block a $68 million DOJ‑Colony Ridge settlement. The deal would allocate $48 million to flood‑control infrastructure but diverts $20 million to fund immigration‑enforcement police resources, with no direct restitution...
The Fed Wants to Let a Dangerous Asset Loose on Bank Balance Sheets
The Federal Reserve has proposed three adjustments to how banks treat mortgage loans and mortgage servicing rights (MSRs) under capital rules. While the new loan‑to‑value risk‑weight buckets and a review of the 250% MSR risk weight align with Basel principles,...
Clinton Alum Eugene Ludwig Courts Banks for Stablecoin Alternative
Eugene Ludwig, former Clinton cabinet official, founded Cari to create a bank‑centric network for tokenized deposits that are FDIC‑insured and faster than traditional transfers. The startup has secured five regional banks—KeyCorp, Huntington, Old National, First Horizon and M&T—as design partners...
'Carpetbagging' Out of State Banks Are a Drain on Florida's Resources
Florida’s rapid population growth is straining highways, schools, and water systems while driving an acute affordable‑housing crisis. Out‑of‑state and branchless banks are harvesting more than $200 billion in deposits from Floridians but reinvest only a fraction locally, exacerbating the shortage of...
It's a Wonderful Life (as Long as You've Got a Job)
A new Federal Reserve study of U.S. bank failures from the Civil War through 1934 finds that bank runs are typically the final trigger for already insolvent institutions, while well‑capitalized banks can weather runs. Meanwhile, the latest macro data show...
Why Do Banks Fail? Study Finds Insolvency Is the True Killer
A new NBER study of over 4,000 bank runs from 1863‑1934 finds that insolvency, not liquidity, is the primary driver of bank failures. Solvent institutions rarely collapsed even when faced with massive withdrawals, while loss‑making banks turned runs into terminal...
A Community-Bank Director Quits with a Parting Blast
Glen Herrick, a senior advisor and former CFO, resigned from MVB Financial’s board after just 14 months, publicly criticizing the bank’s executive‑compensation structure and lack of focus on recurring earnings. His departure is one of only four outspoken director resignations...
OCC's GENIUS Implementation Draft Rule Keeps Yield on the Table
The OCC has issued a draft implementation rule for the GENIUS Act that establishes a rebuttable presumption that stablecoin issuers and their affiliates may not pay interest or yield on payment stablecoins. While the language appears to ban direct yield,...
Will Trump Scramble Santander's Plan to Buy Webster?
Banco Santander’s $12.3 billion bid to acquire U.S. regional bank Webster Financial is now under pressure after President Donald Trump announced he would cut off trade with Spain. The political spat, sparked by Spain’s refusal to allow U.S. military use of...
Edward Jones Gets Green Light to Launch Industrial Bank
Edward Jones has secured conditional approval from the FDIC and the Utah Department of Financial Institutions to launch Edward Jones Bank, an industrial loan company slated for early 2027. The new bank will accept deposits and issue certificates of deposit,...
Banks Need to Rethink How They Train Staff to Fight Financial Crime
Banks are confronting a financial‑crime threat that evolves faster than their compliance training cycles. The profession suffers from a thin talent pipeline, with most hires arriving mid‑career and no standardized academic path. Current training is static, annual, and siloed, while...
Banks Need to Choose Carefully Between Public and Private Blockchains
Stellar’s CEO warns banks that choosing between private and public blockchain infrastructures will create lasting path dependencies. With the tokenized real‑world‑asset market valued around $33 billion, banks are already piloting blockchain‑based settlement and fund tokenization. The article outlines three critical questions—who...
Washington's FS Bancorp to Enter Portland with Deal
Washington‑based FS Bancorp announced a $34.6 million cash‑and‑stock deal to acquire Pacific West Bank, giving its 1st Security Bank subsidiary a foothold in the Portland market. The four‑branch target adds $386 million in assets, expanding the combined institution to roughly $3.6 billion. This...
Exclusive: Lawmakers Introduce Bipartisan FHLB Bond Bill
Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D‑NV) and Todd Young (R‑IN) introduced the Municipal Investment and Neighborhood Transformation (MINT) Act, restoring a 2008 authority that lets Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) members issue tax‑exempt bonds for community‑development projects. The bill expands the...
Permissibility Is the Real Prize for Banks in Crypto Bill
The U.S. market‑structure bill’s permissibility section would formally allow banks and their holding companies to own and transact in digital assets, effectively expanding the range of activities deemed permissible under the National Bank Act. Critics argue that simply placing an...
Citigroup Strikes Banamex Stake Sales with Blackstone, BTG
Citigroup announced the sale of an additional 24% stake in its Mexican retail bank, Grupo Financiero Banamex, for roughly $2.5 billion. The shares were bought by a consortium that includes Blackstone, General Atlantic, Brazil's BTG Pactual and Mexico's Afore Sura, among others. The...
M&T Says Tricolor-Related Lawsuit Could Lead to Losses
M&T Bank’s Wilmington Trust subsidiary is defending a New York lawsuit alleging it failed to fulfill custodial duties for several Tricolor‑related trusts. Plaintiffs claim the bank breached contracts and fiduciary obligations, seeking unspecified damages, interest and fees. M&T reports that...
Medallion Stresses Home Improvement to Drive 2026 Growth
Medallion Financial, the former taxi‑medallion lender, is pivoting to accelerate home‑improvement loan growth, aiming for mid‑teens percentage expansion in 2026. The strategy is anchored by hiring veteran consumer lender Joel Cannon from Regions Financial to lead a dedicated home‑improvement team....
Global Payments' Turnaround Gets Off on the Right Foot
Global Payments reported fourth‑quarter net revenue of $2.3 billion, a 6 % year‑over‑year increase, while net income fell to $217.5 million, missing consensus forecasts. The results sparked a 13 % surge in the stock as the company completed its Worldpay acquisition and announced a...
Warren Warns Fed, Treasury Against Crypto Bailout
Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell demanding a written commitment that the government will not bail out the crypto industry. She cited Bitcoin’s roughly 50%...
Banks that Won on Deposit Growth in 2025 Got Boost From M&A
Regional banks with $10‑$100 billion in assets leveraged mergers and acquisitions to outpace the broader market in 2025, boosting core deposits by more than 8% versus the industry’s 4% average. The 27 midsize lenders that completed deals saw a collective 29%...
Olympics Boost Spending in Italy; UK Banks Push Visa, Mastercard Rival
U.K. banks, led by Barclays, are convening to fund a home‑grown payment network aimed at reducing reliance on Visa and Mastercard, which dominate 95% of the non‑cash market. Visa data shows the Milano‑Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics sparked a sharp surge...
NY AG Issues Alert on Crypto-Based Pig Butchering Scams
New York Attorney General Letitia James issued a consumer alert warning that crypto‑based pig‑butchering scams are targeting New Yorkers through romance and professional ruses. The scams involve coaches who instruct victims to lie to bank staff, making fraud detection difficult....
OCC Proposes New Appeal Process for Banks, Trusts
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has proposed a new appeals board that would review supervisory decisions using a de novo “fresh look” standard. The rule expands appeal rights to uninsured institutions such as national trust banks and...
ACH Volume Is Soaring. Here's How that Threatens Banks.
ACH network volume surged in 2025, reaching 35.2 billion payments worth $93 trillion, a 5 percent rise year‑over‑year. Person‑to‑person transfers grew 19.8 percent and business‑to‑business payments rose 9.9 percent, while check usage in B2B fell to 26 percent. Nacha has proposed lifting the same‑day ACH transaction...
Banks Effectively Deputized in Trump's Immigration Fight
President Trump’s Treasury Department has launched an aggressive AML campaign targeting Minnesota and U.S.–Mexico border regions, using new Geographic Targeting Orders and high‑performance data analytics to flag cartel, fraud and immigration‑related transactions. FinCEN now requires banks and money‑service businesses to...
Bucking a Trend, One Out-of-State Bank Will Exit North Carolina
First National Corp., a $2 billion Virginia community bank, announced it will exit North Carolina by selling its two branches and has already closed two loan production offices. The exits are slated for the second half of 2026 and are part...
The SBA's New Credit Restrictions Are a Disaster for Small Businesses
The Small Business Administration has announced a rule that excludes permanent‑resident (green‑card) holders from eligibility for SBA 7(a) and 504 loans. The change eliminates a primary source of affordable credit for many immigrant‑owned small businesses, especially in states with large...
We Need a Better System for Routing International Payments in a Crisis
A senior Consumer Reports director recounts how international relief funds for Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica were crippled by fragmented payment systems, losing roughly 10% to fees and taking weeks to clear. Despite a plethora of fintech options, P2P apps, traditional...