Banking

The latest consumer conditions study from the American Financial Services Association paints a less-than-rosy picture of how lenders expect the second half of the year to play out.

The online lender said its national bank will become the "primary originator," displacing the banks that are lenders of record. Loan buyers keep their role.

Supporters of mutual banks are lining up behind a proposed regulatory overhaul. The Fed's plan would make it easier for depositor-owned banks to raise capital.

The deal bolsters Zions' ability to serve multifamily customers and creates a natural extension of its affordable housing lending program, management said.

The investment is expected to bring a 40% increase to Chase Home Lending's mortgage capacity, with the addition of 850 new advisors, the company said.

Christopher Peterson, a law professor at the University of Utah and former senior advisors at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is the latest top hire for a Democratic state stepping up consumer protection.

Meanwhile, MISMO has updated its guide to incorporate the updated scores for use with mortgage insurers and VantageScore Solutions rolls out a new model, 5.0.

The mortgage subsidiary of PlainsCapital Bank saw improvement in its bottom line but remained in the red amid ongoing affordability constraints.

At a House hearing last week, GOP lawmakers asked Russell Vought, the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, for advice on how to craft legislation to permanently change the CFPB's authority. The hearing highlighted a consensus among Republicans that administrative policy rollbacks are not enough.

Increased use of artificial intelligence led to revenue growth and productivity gains during the second quarter, the bank's leaders said.

Jumbo lending helped offset a decline in June's credit numbers, as government-backed programs noticeably contracted, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

The bipartisan housing package, dismissed by President Trump as a "yawn," takes effect automatically after he declined to sign it in protest over stalled voter ID legislation.

The new Mortgage Bankers Association research adds to debate over whether Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should allow a less costly alternative to the tri-merge.

The move is designed to align the two Utah-based businesses under a single unique name and comes two years after the bank acquired the home lender in 2024.

A $160 million deal to merge Hometown Financial Group subsidiaries and Primary Bank will lead to consolidation under a single brand name of TruNorth.

The private student loan market figures to benefit from Republican-led changes to the much larger federal program. But other consumer lenders could face a fallout as more Americans are forced to reconsider which debt payments to prioritize.

A tour of the technology that banking has run on, dating back to Franklin's anti-counterfeit measures and the bank-note bulletin that preceded American Banker.

The Bank of International Settlements compared the recent AI investment frenzy to the canal mania of the 1830s, the British railway craze of the 1840s and the dot-com boom of the late 90s.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is overhauling its consumer complaint portal after receiving 6.6 million complaints last year, more than double the 3.2 million in 2024, citing abuse by credit repair firms and social media influencers.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. issued proposals Thursday that would reduce planning requirements for big banks and slash deposit insurance prices, citing the financial health of the Deposit Insurance Fund.