Banking

Michigan State University Federal Credit Union will open five branches in the Windy City to serve the more than 10,000 members and potential members living there. This marks the first time that the institution has expanded beyond its home state.

The Columbus, Georgia, bank is selling a $1.3 billion portfolio as part of a plan to pay off higher-cost funding. Though there are rising concerns about the office sector, Synovus said the loans it's offloading have pristine credit quality.

The recent conversion marked one of the final steps in the $8 billion acquisition, first announced in 2021. U.S. Bank still anticipates up to $900 million in cost savings and a breadth of opportunities to expand revenue from the transaction.

Several community banks noted an uptick in problem loans in second-quarter earnings reports. Small lenders should brace for more of this, industry observers noted.

The Wall Street giant has more than $14 billion of real estate investments, and it took a $1.15 billion hit during the second quarter from writedowns of those bets.

While multifamily late payments were flat, hotel properties continued to improve but office performance deteriorated significantly from the first quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

The bank's allowance for losses on commercial real estate loans jumped to $3.6 billion in the second quarter — up 64% from a year earlier. The negative forecast could portend trouble for smaller banks that have bigger exposure to the office sector.

The average credit union member had saved $286 less in March compared to a year earlier. That was the largest per-member drop in credit union history, fueled by rising costs of living and more aggressive competition.

Over 111,000 distressed mortgage holders opted into a loan modification program during the COVID-19 pandemic by using a designated digital platform or app, according to Black Knight.

Americans are so desperate to break free from credit card, mortgage and auto loan debt that they'd resort to dangerous deeds, a survey by Beyond Finance found.

Mayor Michelle Wu is offering hefty tax breaks to companies to turn offices into housing, the latest example of a city seeking to address the challenges of remote work hitting downtowns and a lack of affordable residences.

Eligible customers would receive a credit of up to $5,000 that can be put toward expenses like closing costs, or used to secure a lower interest rate. It's the latest example of a bank launching a program aimed at extending credit to minority borrowers.

Ally, Truist, Citizens and SoFi are among the banks that offer student loan repayment benefits. The recent Supreme Court decision striking down President Biden's loan forgiveness plan could give a leg up to companies that provide such assistance to their employees.

The Mortgage Bankers Association attributes this to muted demand for home purchases and companies trimming their operations.

Adjusted for inflation, consumer spending has largely stalled after surging at the start of the year. Delinquency rates, meanwhile, are ticking up. 

The $4 billion-asset United Federal Credit Union partnered with the Nevada Housing Division to offer first-time homebuyers access to down-payment assistance.

The Cleveland-based regional bank recently announced a $20 million line of credit for Lendistry, a Los Angeles-based, minority-led community development financial institution.

After a Supreme Court ruling, forgiveness for education debt looks unlikely but some of those exiting forbearance for it get a year-long break on credit and fees that could be helpful.

Twenty lenders from across the country are participating in Underwriting for Racial Justice, a collaborative effort to develop new criteria that will enable marginalized borrowers to gain access to credit.

Eligible borrowers would receive a credit for up to $5,000 to pay for expenses like insurance, taxes and closing costs. The program comes months after fair-lending advocacy groups criticized KeyBank for its low rate of lending to Black borrowers.