CFPB calls GAO funding probe ‘political’ and ‘weaponized’
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office last week criticizing a probe into the bureau’s funding request for 2025, insisting that acting CFPB Director Russell Vought has “sole discretion” to determine funding and staffing levels.
Don’t scrap the CFPB. Turn it into the agency it was meant to be
Rather than deleting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, now is the time for the president and Congress to reform and reboot it into the agency that carries out its mission in an apolitical manner.
White House report tests Fed’s openness to crypto
The President’s Work Group on Digital Assets released a report calling for changes to the central bank’s master account policies. The reforms could make it easier for digital asset groups to access the federal payments system.
Yes, credit unions are buying more banks
The data shows a sharp uptick in credit union acquisitions of banks, drawing the ire of community bankers as they lobby for credit union taxes.
Fed’s Kugler to step down next week
The Federal Reserve governor’s term was set to expire in January and President Donald Trump has made it clear that she would not be reappointed. The vacancy will give Trump an opportunity to appoint someone new to the central bank’s board.
A growth-minded Missouri bank absorbs a local competitor
Deal for Clay County Savings Bank leaves Verimore Bank primed to add market share in a fast-growing Kansas City neighborhood
Secured cards find new niche in earned wage access
Direct-to-consumer earned wage access provider EarnIn is rolling out Live Pay, a service that “streams” consumers’ paychecks via a Visa card. It’s a model banks could replicate.
A Dallas bank is confident its losses will pay off
First Foundation is in transformation mode, after a capital infusion and new management gave it some power to remix its challenged balance sheet. But the bank just took its third quarterly loss out of the last four quarters.
Northwest acquires Penns Woods, expands Pennsylvania footprint
Columbus-based Northwest Bancshares finalized its acquisition of Penns Woods Bancorp; Barclays becomes the second U.K.-based bank to leave the Zero Banking Alliance; BankUnited announces the appointment of Michael Mitchell as executive vice president, director of branch banking; and more in this week’s banking news roundup.
How AI is changing the cost of a data breach
Companies that lack artificial intelligence governance may spend hundreds of thousands of dollars more in responding to cyberattacks, IBM found.