Latest banking news, April 15, 2022

Latest banking news

April 15, 2022 3:00 PM

In addition to filing more than a dozen NFT and metaverse trademark applications, Mastercard unveiled a risk management collaboration with a company specializing in artificial intelligence technology. Meanwhile, the Houston Astros are using new tech to make it easier for fans to buy peanuts and Cracker Jack at the old ball game.

Scroll through to see what you might have missed this week in banking, payments, recruiting and more.

Mastercard plants its flag in the metaverse

Bloomberg

As Meta, American Express and banks such as JPMorgan Chase and HSBC pursue the metaverse and other innovations such as nonfungible tokens, Mastercard is also ramping up its strategy. The card company has filed 15 nonfungible token and metaverse trademark applications covering downloadable music files authenticated by NFTs, marketplaces for NFT-related media, processing for virtual payment cards, metaverse events and online communities. The metaverse generally refers to virtual environments such as games and social hubs. While it's still early stage for the metaverse, payment companies see opportunities to process transactions for payments within virtual environments, as well as transactions tied to incentive marketing. — John Adams

Houston Astros add Amazon's 'just walk out' tech to ballpark

Fans do the wave at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.

Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

Two concession locations at Minute Maid Park have added Amazon's checkout-free technology, which allows visitors to insert their credit card at entry gates, add items to a virtual cart, then have their cards charged automatically upon leaving the store. Spurred by Amazon Go and technology from competing companies that develop in-store shopping and payment technology, sports stadiums and arenas have been gradually enabling digital payments that use cameras and other sensory technology to eliminate lines at the point of sale. The Minute Maid Park concession areas still have in-person staff to assist consumers and check identification for alcohol purchases. — John Adams

Mastercard adds a tech partner to expand security tools for banks

Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg News

Mastercard this week announced a risk management collaboration with Interos, a company that uses artificial intelligence to help firms manage supply chains and other operations. The card brand will offer the McLean, Virginia, company's technology to financial institutions as a way to address risks in cybersecurity, geopolitical, operational and environment, social and governance (ESG). The move fits a broader initiative at Mastercard to diversify services beyond payment processing, a strategy that's also underway at Visa. — John Adams

Fraudster pleads guilty; stole from Citizens, Santander while working there

Department Of Justice Headquarters As Barr Tells Associates He May Quit Over Ongoing Trump Tweets

Bloomberg News

A former employee of Citizens Bank and Santander Bank, Dayquan Fitzgerald-Williams, 26, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud in a federal court, the Department of Justice announced. Fitzgerald-Williams, formerly of Connecticut and now living in North Carolina, admitted to stealing customer information from his employers and giving it to co-conspirators, who then stole money from customers’ accounts. At Santander, Fitzgerald-Williams targeted older clients with $100,000 or more in their accounts; his collaborators used the information he provided to steal $1.6 million in checks and $2 million in ACH transfers, although not all the money made it to the scamsters. He also tried to write a bad check to himself for $34,700. Fitzgerald-Williams faces up to 30 years in prison when he is sentenced at a later date. — Chana Schoenberger

BNP Paribas recruits economist for Markets 360

Kosuke Okahara/Bloomberg News

BNP Paribas named Carl Riccadonna as chief U.S. economist for its market strategy and economics division, Markets 360. He joined the French bank this month from Bloomberg LP, where he was chief U.S. economist and head of economics research for the Americas. “Understanding and navigating the post-pandemic economy presents an exciting challenge, one which I am confident can be tackled through a combination of meticulous scrutiny of key macroeconomic trends and a sober analytical perspective,” Riccadonna said in a press release. — Frank Gargano

CEO of Korean American bank calling it a career

Joanne Kim, president and chief executive of CBB Bancorp in Los Angeles and its Commonwealth Business Bank, is retiring. James Hong, senior executive vice president of the Korean American bank, will succeed Kim. “I want to thank Joanne for her 11 years of service and the many contributions she has made to the growth and success of CBB Bancorp and CBB Bank,” Soon Pak, the chairman of the $1.8 billion-asset company, said in a press release. — Jim Dobbs

South Carolina bank hires Janney investment banker as CFO

South Atlantic Bancshares, parent company of South Atlantic Bank in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, named Matthew H. Hobert executive vice president and chief financial officer. Hobart most recently worked as director of investment banking for Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia. Richard N. Burch, the current CFO, will transition to the role of chief operating officer and will also be the $1.23 billion-asset bank’s information security officer. — Frank Gargano

Elon Musk tries to buy Twitter

Elon Musk.

picture alliance/Photographer: picture alliance/p

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who earlier in his career was co-founder of a startup that later became PayPal, has offered to buy Twitter for $54 per share, or about $43 billion. Musk, who has a 9.2% stake in Twitter, earlier accepted, then declined, a seat on Twitter's board of directors. In a letter to Twitter Chairman Bret Taylor that's disclosed in an SEC filing, Musk said he would "need to reconsider" his position as a shareholder if his offer is not accepted. In addition to its social messaging platform, Twitter's payment products include a "buy button" and a "Tip Jar," which allow people to monetize their tweets. Musk in 1999 was co-founder and CEO of X.com, a digital financial company that merged with Confinity, a startup with a similar model, in 2000. Musk left the firm later that year, and the combined company rebranded as PayPal in 2001. — John Adams