First Citizens rebrands CIT businesses, Discover launches new campaign

October 6, 2023 12:00 PM

First Citizens extends its brand to CIT business lines, Discover launches TV campaign for debit account, Southern Michigan Bancorp announces leadership transition and more in the weekly banking news roundup.

First Citizens extends its brand to certain CIT businesses

First Citizens Bank, whose parent company acquired New York-based CIT Group in 2022 after a lengthy wait, is rebranding certain CIT business lines to better reflect a unified company. The First Citizens name and logo will be adopted by nearly all of the businesses within CIT's commercial finance group, including energy; commercial real estate; healthcare finance; technology, media and telecommunications; aerospace, defense and government and capital equipment finance, Raleigh, North Carolina-based First Citizens said in a press release. Each of those businesses, and others, are now "fully integrated into the bank as a whole," Jim Hudak, president of First Citizens' commercial finance group, said in the release. The switchover will be complete by the end of the year and it will leave just a few CIT names in the mix, including CIT rail division, CIT commercial services and the CIT Bank online bank, First Citizens said. — Allissa Kline

Discover launches national TV campaign for its debit account

Discover Financial Services on Thursday launched a national advertising campaign for its Cashback Debit account featuring actress Jennifer Coolidge touting Discover's 1% cash-back rewards on up to $3,000 in monthly debit card purchases. The effort, with the tagline "Especially for Everyone," includes a TV spot and online and social media ads, and marks the Riverwoods, Illinois-based financial services firm's first marketing push for a banking product, according to a press release. Discover initially launched the Cashback Debit account in April 2022, but shortly afterward halted its rollout due to a spate of fraud. Prior to his unexpected exit in July, Discover's former CEO Roger Hochschild said the company's relaunch this year of its cash-back debit card would be the centerpiece of the firm's goal of becoming a leading U.S. digital bank. Discover on Monday said it has reached a consent agreement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to ensure the firm has a robust framework in place to comply with federal consumer protection rules, including safeguards around risks to customers, risks from third-party vendors and an appropriate path for managing consumer complaints. Discover said it recently hired more than 200 people in its compliance department. —Kate Fitzgerald

Southern Michigan Bancorp announces leadership transition

Southern Michigan Bancorp said its CEO John Castle and President Kurt Miller are planning to retire from the company. The $1.4 billion-asset company in Coldwater, Michigan, appointed John Waldron to serve as president and CEO effective Oct. 3. Waldron, who joined Southern in May 2022 to serve as president of the bank's Jackson market, brings nearly three decades of commercial banking and leadership experience to the position. Castle will continue to serve as chairman of the Southern board, while Miller will transition to the vice chairman role, Southern said in a press release. Until their respective retirements in June 2024, Castle and Miller will support Waldron in managing the day-to-day operations of Southern. — Jim Dobbs

Wells Fargo to invest $175 million for Chicago-area expansion

Wells Fargo plans to spend about $175 million to expand its presence in and around Chicago. The San Francisco-based lender intends to have at least 30 branches in the Chicago metropolitan area, up from seven, according to a statement Tuesday. The move marks the firm's first branch expansion under Chief Executive Officer Charlie Scharf, who took over the company four years ago with the task of moving it past a series of scandals. "Chicago is the third-largest city in the country, and we felt we should have a larger presence here," Scharf said Tuesday at an event hosted by the Executives' Club of Chicago. The first of the new branches will open in downtown Chicago in mid-November, with plans for additional locations in the Bridgeport and Bronzeville neighborhoods, "which are historically under-invested areas," Wells Fargo said. — Jonathan Roeder and Ryan Vlastelica, Bloomberg News

Goldman Sachs partner Kojima departs for senior General Atlantic role

Goldman Sachs Group partner Chris Kojima resigned to take a senior role at General Atlantic, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Kojima, global co-head of Goldman's client-solutions group, is set to join General Atlantic in early 2024, said one of the people, all of whom requested anonymity because the move isn't yet public.

Kojima has worked at Goldman since 1995, Finra records show. He is global head of its Asian Network and on the board of "Launch With GS," an investment platform dedicated to increasing capital access for diverse entrepreneurs and investors, according to his LinkedIn profile. He made partner in 2008 after being named managing director in 2002.

The New York-based firm announced his pending departure Tuesday, without saying where he's heading, according to a memo seen by Bloomberg News.

Representatives for General Atlantic and Goldman declined to comment. — Gillian Tan and Sridhar Natarajan, Bloomberg News

Mastercard adds promotional perks for network card users

Mastercard has added services from Instacart and Peacock to the list of built-in perks available for customers of banks offering the World Mastercard and World Elite versions of the credit card. Users with an eligible card may receive two free months of Instacart+ and $10 off their second order each month, along with $3 to $5 cash back on Peacock subscriptions, Mastercard said in a Thursday press release. The new perks augment existing promotional deals from Lyft and Shoprunner, all expiring at the end of March 2024, alongside a range of travel and security benefits available year-round. —Kate Fitzgerald