Latest news
On July 9, 2026, First Financial Bankshares announced that its wealth services company, First Financial Trust, has been officially renamed First Financial Wealth Management. The name change aims to more accurately reflect the comprehensive wealth services the company has provided since 1927, including investment management, retirement planning, trust and estate management, mineral management, real estate management, and fiduciary services. The company emphasized that this change is a clarification of name rather than a business restructuring, with no changes to the team, services, locations, or leadership.
Sogolytics has published the Credit Union Member Experience Index 2026, the first national benchmark for credit union member experience. Based on a June 2026 survey of 1,002 active members, the index reveals an overall CU MX Index Score of 75.7 out of 100, with NPS at +43 and 85% overall satisfaction. The report highlights staff service quality as the top driver, while Gen Z lags Boomers by 15.2 points on trust.
The Treasury Department announced that Bank of America will pay more than $1.21 billion in penalties for violating anti-money laundering and sanctions laws. The penalties include a $1.2 billion fine from FinCEN—the third-largest in Treasury history—and a $750 million civil penalty from the OCC, the largest in its 163-year history. The OCC cited a deficient and ineffective compliance program, while OFAC announced an $11.6 million settlement over sanctions violations tied to Iran, Russia, global terrorism, and narcotics. Bank of America admitted to willful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, failed to file suspicious activity reports for $5 billion in transactions, and did not properly monitor trillions of dollars in transactions. The bank agreed to a cease-and-desist order in 2024 but failed to complete necessary steps, leading to the penalties. CEO Brian Moynihan said the bank is committed to resolving the issues, and a spokesperson noted investments in technology and personnel. The penalty reduced third-quarter earnings by about 17 cents per share and caused a 7.7% drop in stock price.
Faced with a surge in fraud cases targeting elderly customers, Fifth Third Bank and Star One Credit Union are striving to intervene early during ongoing scams by expanding anti-fraud teams, deploying detection tools, conducting employee training, and enhancing information sharing.
TabaPay announced Wednesday its intention to acquire Denver-based Transact Bank, backed by $155 million in financing led by FTV Capital. The deal would grant TabaPay a banking charter through the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, pending Federal Reserve approval, and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026. After closing, Transact will rebrand as TabaBank. The move follows TabaPay's terminated 2024 agreement to buy Synapse assets. TabaPay, which processes over $100 billion in payments annually and serves one-third of U.S. households, aims to integrate payments and banking capabilities under one roof while continuing to work with its network of partner banks.
The annual Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium focused on payments this year, with tokenized deposits taking center stage as a safer and more cost-efficient alternative to stablecoins. BIS General Manager Pablo Hernandez de Cos emphasized that tokenized deposits operate within the two-tier system, preserving the link between deposit-taking and credit provision, and offer better interoperability than stablecoins. Banks are developing tokenized deposit networks to improve cross-border payments, with The Clearing House planning to launch such a network. The discussion also touched on the historical use of commodities as currency in Wyoming and the state's new stablecoin initiative.
Citizens Bank is accelerating its cross-business-line collaborative services to fill the market gap between consumer banking and commercial banking. Mark Valentino, President of Corporate Banking at the bank, stated that recent investments in products, technology, and geographic expansion are aimed at driving growth, with a focus on expanding mid- and lower-market corporate clients in regions such as New York, Florida, and California.
21 international financial institutions, including six major U.S. banks, announced on Tuesday that they will jointly support a stablecoin issuer planned to be established by the end of this year. The project will initially issue a U.S. dollar stablecoin, later expanding to G7 currencies such as the euro, targeting wholesale, institutional, and retail markets, with a launch expected in the first half of 2027.
Twenty-one financial institutions, including Bank of America, Citi, and Wells Fargo, announced on Tuesday their backing of a new company to support the issuance of a stablecoin. The company is set to be established by the end of this year, with the stablecoin expected to launch in the first half of 2027. The initiative will initially focus on a U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoin before expanding to other G7 currencies, emphasizing the euro. The consortium aims to offer a safe, robust, and trusted solution combining bank-grade compliance and risk management, targeting wholesale, institutional, and retail markets. The announcement comes ahead of the expected effective date of the Genius Act and follows the launch of a separate stablecoin, Open USD, backed by over 140 businesses. JPMorgan Chase is notably absent from both initiatives.