Banking news roundup, May 5, 2023

CEO of Global Payments to step down

Jeffrey S. Sloan, chief executive and board member of Global Payments in Atlanta, is stepping down after roughly 10 years. Sloan will be succeeded by Cameron M. Bready, who is currently president and chief operating officer, on June 1. Bready will swap his COO role for the CEO title and also join the company's board of directors. "With the closing of our acquisition of EVO Payments and divestitures of our Netspend consumer and gaming solutions businesses, we have successfully completed our strategic pivot to simplify our businesses, focus on our core corporate customers and provide enhanced confidence in our growth and margin targets," Sloan said. —Frank Gargano

TopLine Financial Credit Union in Minnesota names new CEO

TopLine Financial Credit Union in Minnesota has tapped insider Mick Olson as the next president and chief executive. The board of directors for the $770 million-asset credit union named Olson as successor to Tom Smith, who has been at the helm since May 2008 and announced his retirement plans last year. "We will continue to carry on our credit union's tradition of making a positive impact in lives under Mick's guidance, with a continued focus on financial well-being for all, keeping pace with innovation and expanding our reach and invest for the betterment of our communities," Paul Jacobsen, board chair for TopLine, said in a press release on Tuesday.
—Frank Gargano

Raisin names a new U.S. CEO

Raisin, a savings and investment marketplace based in Berlin, has named a new CEO to its U.S. business. Cetin Duransoy, who became CEO on May 1, previously served as president and chief operating officer for working capital provider Fundbox. He has also held senior positions at Capital One and Visa. Raisin launched its U.S. platform, SaveBetter.com, in 2020. Users get one Save Better account through which to access savings accounts, money market deposit accounts and certificates of deposit at partner financial institutions. "With the U.S. market a key focus of growth for Raisin globally, it is an exciting time to join Raisin," said Duransoy in a press release. Duransoy is replacing former CEO Marcel Bock, who is starting his own business. —Miriam Cross

County Schools FCU in California names former employee to CEO role

County Schools Federal Credit Union in Ventura, California, named Hector Martin as the credit union's new president and CEO. He succeeds John Bagents, who took the top spot at WestStar Credit Union in Las Vegas in November. Martin most recently was the associate vice president of lending at the $804 million-asset CBC Federal Credit Union in Oxnard, California. He is also a former employee of the $95 million-asset County Schools FCU, having served as vice president of retail services from 2019 to 2021. "We are extremely pleased that after the diligence of a nationwide search, County Schools Federal Credit Union has found its new chief executive officer here in our own backyard," said Chairman Stan Mantooth in a press release. —Ken McCarthy

Pacific West Bank wants everyone to know it is not Pacific Western Bank

Pacific West Bank in West Linn, Oregon, issued a press release on Thursday making it clear that it IS NOT related to Pacific Western Bank, or its parent company PacWest Bancorp, in Beverly Hills, California. "We understand that there may be confusion among some customers and shareholders due to the similarity in our names, but we want to emphasize that we are a completely separate entity, and our financial position remains strong," said Jason Wessling, president of Pacific West Bank, in the release. PacWest lost almost $6 billion in deposits in the first quarter of 2023 and has been exploring a potential sale. Its shares closed down 50% on Thursday. PWB's homepage also states in bold letters that it has no association with PacWest and invites users to call with any questions.—Miriam Cross

Citizens names consumer banking, ESG executives as vice chairmen

Citizens Financial Group expanded its senior leadership group with the appointment of two executives to chair-level positions. Brendan Coughlin, the $222 billion-asset bank's head of consumer banking, was named as a vice chairman this week after an 18-year tenure at Citizens that has led to him overseeing business groups including retail banking, consumer lending, mortgages and wealth management. Beth Johnson, who joined the Providence, Rhode Island, bank in 2013 was also appointed to a vice-chair position after taking leadership of ESG efforts, digital design and data analytics strategies, payments infrastructure and marketing and communications. The two executives join a chair group at Citizens that also includes CFO John Woods and Don McCree, head of commercial banking.—Jordan Stutts

Fintech research center announces BofA, Wells Fargo, others as partners

A research center focused on financial technologies announced this week that Bank of America, Wells Fargo, SWIFT and eight other companies have joined as members. The Center for Research toward Advancing Financial Technologies, also known as CRAFT, is nearing completion on seven research projects it funded for the current research cycle, which ends this month. Three of the projects focus on explainability in machine learning to help institutions understand how artificial intelligence makes decisions on credit risk analysis and other financial decisions. Other projects focus on decentralized finance, quantum computing methods for financial risk management and document analysis.—Carter Pape

Venmo expands crypto trading

Venmo has enabled users to transfer cryptocurrency to PayPal accounts and external wallets and exchanges. The PayPal-owned transfer app had previously allowed consumers to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency within the app, a service Venmo initially released in 2021. PayPal also introduced similar crypto support at around the same time. The new Venmo feature adds transfers of bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin and bitcoin cash to both Venmo contacts and outside parties. The expanded service is accessible via a crypto tab in the Venmo app. User can then tap transfer arrow to send crypto to a Venmo account, or to an external wallet by entering the recipient's wallet address. Despite the difficulties in the cryptocurrency market over the past year, Venmo reports more than 74% of its cryptocurrency customers have held their currency in Venmo accounts, and half of customers with cryptocurrency balances have increased their holdings since the start of 2023. —John Adams

Chase and Amazon make changes to co-branded cards

Amazon and JPMorgan Chase renamed and added new features to their co-branded cards, now called Prime Visa and Amazon Visa. Amazon Prime members are now eligible to earn 5% back on purchases made through the Chase Travel booking platform (non-Prime members earn 3%), and both cards now generate 2% back on local transit purchases. Other benefits for the no-annual-fee cards remain unchanged, including 5% cash back at Amazon and Whole Foods Market for Prime members (3% for non-Prime members) and 2% back on all dining and gas and 1% back on all other purchases. —Kate Fitzgerald