Banking

Credit card issuers would have to set aside more in reserves because of higher loss histories, according to research by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods on the impact of the new loan-loss standard.

While student, auto and credit card balances are at or near record levels, housing debt is shrinking, credit quality is weakening a bit and lending standards, at least in some sectors, are tightening.

Bridgeview Bancorp floated its name with 14 potential buyers, but it only attracted serious interest once it promised to divest a mortgage business that recorded a double-digit decline in fee income last year.

Recent data from the Federal Reserve suggests lenders are growing pessimistic about the credit environment. But is that a sign of trouble ahead, or just sound risk management?

HomeStreet Bank will attempt to sell its stand-alone mortgage business and portfolio of servicing rights, a move that comes amid growing pressure from an activist investor to exit home lending and concerns about declining demand and regulatory challenges.

Refinance volume slipped following growth in mortgage rates, and loans refinanced through the Home Affordable Housing Program barely made a dent in overall volume, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Mortgage delinquencies in the fourth quarter were at their lowest level in nearly 19 years, helped by wage growth, low household debt and low unemployment, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

The government-sponsored enterprises are going through a transition period. From proposals for rebuilding their capital cushions to tackling shortages in affordable housing, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac face a number of key challenges with wide-ranging consequences this year.

The bureau wants to further remove the threat of legal liability for firms that test products benefiting consumers, but the attorneys general say the agency cannot provide immunity from state law.

If the government insists on forcing another shutdown, business owners are intent on letting Congress know how much the last one hurt.

Late payments on loans backing commercial mortgage bonds continued falling at the start of the year, due to strong new issuance volume and continued resolutions for precrisis loans by special servicers, according to Fitch Ratings.

The bank says it has restored access, but it hasn’t explained how a fire-suppression system at one facility could cause a nationwide outage across all of its channels, or how its system as a whole could have been left so vulnerable to the incident.

Why now? Will it work? How will their rivals respond? The megadeal between the two East Coast regionals offers up plenty of grist for speculation.

SunTrust’s merger with BB&T is the largest bank deal since the financial crisis, and mortgages will play a critical role in the execution of this transaction.

The merged bank would set up an innovation and technology center in Charlotte as part of its bid to compete better against the largest institutions and fintech startups.

Customers reported being unable to access online banking, mobile banking or their debit cards.

The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing Feb. 26 on "holding credit bureaus accountable" — one of seven hearings scheduled by the panel for the month.

Better credit quality and the influx of refinancing during the low interest rates of the last few years pushed mortgage performance to the highest levels since the turn of the century, according to Black Knight.

Community banks generally make digital a consumer play, but TransPecos Bank, with its BankMD brand, is focusing on doctor practices, which tend to weather economic downturns well.

Some hopeful souls in Washington believe the commercial banking industry will return to originating and servicing higher-risk mortgages, but most banks are more likely to continue withdrawing from the sector.