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City National is leveraging its RBC ownership to convey trust and stability as it grows its private wealth management business. The bank has rebranded City National Rochdale to RBC Rochdale and changed 'private banking' to 'private bank' to emphasize a holistic advisory approach. Under Brandon Williams, the private bank has hired about 85 people and promoted 80 in the past 10 months, bringing in talent from competitors. City National, with $100 billion in assets, aims to deepen client relationships and may expand into markets like Charlotte and Nashville, capitalizing on the great wealth transfer.
PicPay, the Brazilian digital bank, has had a eventful year: its parent company's IPO raised over $400 million, making it the first Brazilian company in four years to list in the U.S. But challenges include a federal investigation into alleged payroll fraud and a sharp stock decline after Brazil's election. CFO André Cazotto, a fintech veteran who joined in 2021 and was promoted to finance chief in August, remains focused on consolidating PicPay as one of Brazil's largest digital banks. He outlines a 'low and grow' credit strategy, the use of AI to reduce costs, and efforts to expand beyond its digital wallet roots. Despite a 60% drop in shares this year, Cazotto emphasizes execution and long-term vision, while Citi maintains a buy rating with a $24 target price.
Fragmented payments prevented Kin Insurance from scaling and forced reliance on multiple third-party platforms that didn't share information. By selecting the right payments partner, Kin Insurance successfully unified payments and built lasting value. Listen to their story in 'The connective tissue of insurance' on Spreaker.
Galaxy Digital announced Thursday it has applied for a national trust bank charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. CEO Mike Novogratz said the charter would allow the firm to bring more services under a single federal framework and expand client offerings as adoption accelerates. Galaxy provides custody, trading, staking, and fiduciary investment advisory services. The application comes amid a surge in charter requests from fintechs and crypto firms, including Ripple's recent OCC approval for a national trust bank. The Independent Community Bankers of America has sued the OCC over the spike, arguing it creates regulatory gaps. A trust charter would not permit Galaxy to take deposits or lend commercially, but the company said OCC regulation would build on its more than 50 existing licenses across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
Bank of America opened its first Wisconsin retail branch in Madison on Wednesday and a second in Milwaukee on Thursday, with plans to open 17 more branches statewide through 2030, a spokesperson said. The 19 new branches will create roughly 130 jobs, in addition to the 170 people already employed in Wisconsin within the bank's Merrill Lynch, business banking and global corporate banking arms. The openings are part of Bank of America's $5 billion branch expansion plan that began in 2016. The bank will also enter Louisiana and Alabama next year, with 10 branches slated for the Birmingham and Huntsville, Alabama, areas starting in early 2027, and eight in the greater New Orleans area starting in the second half of the year. Competitors JPMorgan Chase, PNC, TD and others are also expanding their physical footprints, and banks opened more branches than they closed for three recent consecutive quarters for the first time since 2009, according to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. More than 95% of Bank of America client transactions are completed on the bank's app, but clients visit branches for more complex financial needs, with around 10 million appointments made this year. Bank of America has renovated about 400 existing locations in 2026 and will renovate 300 more in the coming months. There are 75,859 total bank branches nationally, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
U.S. Bank's chief risk officer Jodi Richard is departing to become chief risk officer at American Express and its national bank, effective Jan. 25, 2027. Troy Remington, U.S. Bank's chief credit officer, will serve as interim risk chief. Richard's move comes as Amex faces a $350 million civil money penalty and enforcement actions from the Federal Reserve and OCC over anti-money laundering compliance failures. Amex CEO Stephen Squeri cited Richard's regulatory and business experience. Current Amex risk chief Doug Tabish will become president of enterprise shared services in February after Denise Pickett retires.
At the Evident AI Symposium, Bank of America's Hari Gopalkrishnan and Capital One's Prem Natarajan discussed how smaller AI models and model routing help manage AI costs. Bank of America's Orchestra routing layer uses a small classifier model to direct queries to the most cost-effective model, while Capital One distilled open weight models to reduce latency and boost engagement. Both banks also emphasized AI guardrails and data readiness.
In an interview at Money20/20, Elavon CEO Wally Mlynarski emphasized that trust and safety, not speed, should guide the development of agentic commerce. He cited the industry's 25-year struggle with fraud and the economic challenges of mobile wallet wars as key lessons. Mlynarski warned that rushing into agentic commerce without proper safeguards could harm consumers, and highlighted the need to understand value propositions and integrate economics across the payment chain. He also noted Elavon's role in supporting U.S. Bank's deposit and lending growth through embedded financial solutions for merchants.
Valley National Bank's $340 million acquisition of Bluevine, announced in September, aims to merge the fintech's digital capabilities with the bank's relationship banking model. Bluevine CEO Eyal Lifshitz and Valley COO Russ Barrett explain that the deal, expected to close in early 2027, will create a unified small-business banking segment led by Lifshitz. The integration brings $2.1 billion in deposits, 175,000 active small-business clients, and roughly 180 R&D employees to Valley, growing its small-business customer base 20-fold. Both executives emphasize shared cultural fit and the potential to accelerate innovation by combining technology with personalized advice.
Bluefield, Virginia-based First Community Bankshares announced Wednesday it will acquire Main Street Financial Services Corp. in a roughly $243 million deal, set to close in Q2 2027. The transaction adds $1.6 billion in assets, $1.4 billion in deposits, $1.3 billion in loans, and 21 branches—17 in Ohio, a new market for First Community. Wooster, Ohio-based Main Street reported a 43% year-over-year profit jump in Q3. Main Street CEO Mark Witmer will become president of First Community's Ohio region, and one Main Street director will join First Community's boards. The combined company is expected to report about $5.2 billion in assets before adjustments.