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Credit bureaus increasingly fail on consumer complaint response, CFPB finds

Equifax, Experian and TransUnion reported relief in response to less than 2% of covered complaints filed in 2021, compared with 25% in 2019, the bureau reported Wednesday.

Clarida stock-trading controversy deepens

An amended financial disclosure shows the Fed vice chair sold an exchange-traded fund Feb. 24, 2020, then re-bought it Feb. 27, calling into question a previous characterization of the move.

Wells Fargo's chief risk officer to retire in June

"Living through a pandemic teaches you things, and I've realized that now is the time to do some things I want and need to do outside of my career," Wells CRO Amanda Norton wrote in a memo Tuesday.

Updated Jan. 19, 2022

Santander finds itself in a Citi moment with $175M error

In looking to claw back duplicate payments, Santander may find varying levels of cooperation from other banks. The incident may also prompt regulators to examine the lender's risk management framework and history.

5 banking trends to watch in 2022

A reversal on in-office work from a hard-liner like Goldman Sachs may represent a pivot point in the acceptance of remote policies. But other narratives, such as small-scale niche M&A, mark a continuation from 2021.

Morgan Stanley, Capital One's old errors cause new headaches

The banks, collectively, agreed to pay $250 million to settle class-action lawsuits connected to data breaches for which the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency levied penalties in 2020.

NCUA OKs crypto partnerships for credit unions

"Financial services has always been 'adapt or die,'" Kyle Hauptman, the regulator's vice chair, told CoinDesk. "I don't want credit unions to go the way of Blockbuster Video because we, the regulators, prevented innovation."

FDIC Chair Jelena McWilliams resigns

McWilliams' resignation comes after a power struggle emerged when Democratic FDIC board members Rohit Chopra and Martin Gruenberg published a review of bank merger policies without her approval.

BNPL growth prompts change from credit bureaus

Paying in installments has become wildly popular, but many of these plans aren't reflected on consumers' credit reports. Credit agencies say adaptations are coming.

Green Dot, PayPal helped Secret Service recover more than $400M in stolen COVID-19 relief funds

Criminals have swindled nearly $100 billion through fraudulent applications since the start of the pandemic in the U.S., the agency said this week.

Citi spins off its Philippine retail presence

About 1,750 employees will transfer to Union Bank of the Philippines, which agreed Thursday to take on the American bank's footprint in a deal set to close in 2022's second quarter.

Wells Fargo postpones office return indefinitely

Tuesday's move marks the fifth delay to the bank's timeline since August. Wells is not alone in resisting setting a new target date. Capital One gave up on that in October.

CFPB shuts down online lender LendUp

The fintech agreed to pay a $100,000 penalty as part of a settlement. It stopped originating loans this summer and expects to wind down operations early next year. A digital bank the parent company operates will not be affected.

Timing of Bank of America's stay-home call is either grinchy or genius

Giving New York City-area workers a remote option after the weekend keeps them on a shorter leash. By contrast, JPMorgan's announcement Friday, in theory, offered some a chance to flee town early.

Banks are 'missing the mark' on overdraft revamps, Dave CEO says

"Getting rid of overdraft solves part of the problem, but it also can hurt customers who are relying on those funds to get by, even though it's a very expensive credit," said the fintech's top executive, Jason Wilk.

Alabama's Avadian Credit Union buys bank in year's 13th such deal

The tie-up, set to close by next year's third quarter, would leave 2021 shy of 2019's 16 banks bought by credit unions. But Michael Bell, an adviser on such deals, said "quite a few" are ready to be announced next year.

Fed signs off on 3 mergers, but several still remain in limbo

First Citizens and CIT may find relief in their green light, but for other banks such as Old National, the wait is not over.

BMO to buy Bank of the West from BNP Paribas for $16.3B

The Canadian bank would merge Bank of the West into BMO Harris to create the 13th-largest U.S. bank in a deal expected to close by the end of 2022.

Community banks form payments network to compete with Zelle: report

Community bank innovation consortium Alloy Labs Alliance will manage the network in partnership with Payrailz, a digital payments company, Forbes reported.

DOJ backs FDIC Democrats, requests public comments on bank merger review

A Friday statement from the Justice Department's Antitrust Division echoes comments by CFPB Director Rohit Chopra and other Democrats on the FDIC board, as federal regulators set banking M&A in their sights.

JPMorgan to pay $200M in SEC, CFTC fines over record-keeping failures

The bank in June ordered staff to save relevant texts from as early as 2018 made on personal devices and on messaging platforms until the company's legal department said otherwise, Bloomberg reported.

Banking group drops OCC suit after Figure updates charter application

"We still feel like the law would have come out on our side ... but we just don't want to continue to wait," the fintech's general counsel said of its decision to seek deposit insurance.

Updated Jan. 14, 2022

Capital One tops customer satisfaction survey among national banks

On average, the national banks included in J.D. Power's 2021 customer satisfaction survey scored five points lower than in 2020.

OCC lays out climate-risk framework, seeks feedback

Many of the agency's "draft principles" are of the 10,000-foot variety, but it still marks a first among federal banking regulators. The OCC said it plans to follow up with more specific guidance next year.

Lawmaker tells CFPB chief to stay in his own lane

Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-MO, introduced a bill to strip Rohit Chopra of his FDIC board voting rights. The bill also would cap FDIC board members' tenure at 12 years. Martin Gruenberg has served on the board for 16.