Latest banking news

July 8, 2022 2:14 PM

Our bonus coverage begins with Mastercard's rollout of an effort called WhereToStay that aims to help Ukrainians left homeless by the war. We also have news on hackers, hires and M&A.

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

Mastercard offers data to help Ukrainian refugees

Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

Mastercard has launched WhereToStay, which uses data on housing costs and average income in different cities or regions in Ukraine to match people displaced by the war to accommodations they can afford. The site is available without a registration or login. Users are asked to provide information such as the size of their household, desired location and their means of transportation. Mastercard is working with Ukraine's Central Statistical Office, which tracks real estate costs and wages. — John Adams

Hackers nab card numbers from Marriott

Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

A hotel server at the BWI Airport Marriott in Maryland was compromised, resulting in the exposure of 20GB of data, including reservation details and credit card numbers. DataBreaches.net reports the hackers accessed an employee's computer, and planned to use the data to blackmail the hotel chain. The hotel chain refused, and contends most of the data obtained was informal and included details on the hotel's operation. Marriott was victimized by a larger attack about five years ago, when hackers stole details from more than 500 million guests over a four year period. — John Adams

Fidelity Federal in Indiana buying Missouri bank

Fidelity Federal Bancorp in Evansville, Indiana, agreed to acquire Rockhold Bancorp in Kirksville, Missouri. The combined bank would have roughly $4.6 billion of total assets and 31 offices. Fidelity Federal would expand into Missouri with the all-stock deal, which is slated to close in the fourth quarter. The price was not disclosed. “It has been our continued goal to move into markets with stable core deposit funding, and dynamic lending opportunities. As part of our opportunistic growth strategy, we also seek out prime locations and identify outstanding employees,” Fidelity Federal President and CEO Don Neel said in a press release. — Jim Dobbs

Wisconsin banks Horicon and Cornerstone Community merging

boscorelli - stock.adobe.com

Horicon Bank in Horicon, Wisconsin, and Cornerstone Community Bank in Grafton, Wisconsin, announced they have agreed to merge. The $1.2 billion-asset Horicon has 20 branches across 15 communities in the southeast part of the state. The $250 million-asset Cornerstone has three branches in the northern Milwaukee suburbs. Horicon has “a strong business banking function which will enhance our services to our customers,” Cornerstone CEO Paul Foy said in a statement to the local press. — Victoria Zhuang

Crypto foundation hires JPMorgan Chase veteran Wragge

Abstract illustration of a blockchain, showing blocks of binary code (1s and 0s) linked together.

The Algorand Foundation, which develops the Algorand blockchain and cryptocurrency, hired JPMorgan Chase veteran Eric Wragge as global head of business development and capital markets. At JPMorgan, Wragge was the managing director in structured finance and head of asset-backed securities for Northern Europe. "Coming from a leading global investment bank, I understand the uncompromising performance requirements for a Layer 1 blockchain to compete against and improve upon many aspects of traditional finance," Wragge said in a press release. — Victoria Zhuang

Instacart offers rewards for gig workers

JPMorgan Plans to Debut an Instacart Credit Card Later This Year

Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg

Instacart, the company behind the grocery shopping app of the same name, has introduced Cart Star, an incentive marketing program aimed at what it calls "shoppers," or the contract workers who fill orders and deliver groceries to consumers. The program offers point-based currency rewards through third party platforms as well as the Instacart platform. Shoppers accumulate points based on orders fulfilled, earnings 10 points per order. Tiers includes gold shoppers at 200 points, platinum shoppers at 1,000 points and diamond shoppers at 2,000 points in a three month span. Instacart has partnered with support providers such as Care.com, which allow shoppers to use the points as currency for child support or other needs. The rewards program builds on other gig worker programs at Instacart, such as a Stripe partnership to expedite payroll. — John Adams

Citi hires Goldman's Michael Guarino for health care tech deals

Citigroup Confronts Vaccine Holdouts In No Jab, No Job Mandate

Citigroup headquarters in New York, U.S., on Friday, Jan. 7, 2022. Citigroup Inc. was the first major Wall Street bank to impose a strict Covid-19 vaccine mandate: Get a shot or face termination. With its deadline fast approaching, the company is preparing for action.

Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg

Citigroup hired Michael Guarino from Goldman Sachs Group as North America head of health care technology, with the company betting on growing demand for investment banking services in the sector. Guarino will join in October as a managing director based in New York. At Goldman Sachs, he focused on both health care technology and health care services more broadly, according to a memo Wednesday from Chuck Adams, global head of health-care, consumer and retail investment banking at Citigroup. A bank spokesman confirmed the contents of the memo. “Health-care technology represents a strategically important sector,” Adams said in the memo, “and is positioned for growth.” Adams joined Citigroup from Goldman Sachs last year to oversee a new global health care, consumer and wellness “super group,” and has been building out the team after some departures. Citigroup is making a push to win more mandates in health care, and is shifting investment-banking resources “toward growth companies, particularly those in the industries that are converging,” CEO Jane Fraser said at an investor day this year. At Goldman Sachs, Guarino advised on some of the industry’s highest-profile deals, including Cerner’s $29 billion sale to Oracle and Medline Industries’ $34 billion purchase by Blackstone, Carlyle Group and Hellman & Friedman, according to the memo from Adams. — Michelle F. Davis and Daniel Taub, Bloomberg News, with assistance from Jenny Surane

Banc of California hires its first payments chief

Banc of California in Santa Ana named Jagdeep Singh Sahota chief payments officer, a newly created role at the $9.6 billion-asset bank. Sahota previously held senior positions at companies including JPMorgan Chase, Visa, Salesforce and PayPal, the bank said. Banc of California has “quickly become the go-to business bank in the region," Sahota said in a press release. It understands "the important role innovation plays" and is "unafraid to look for ways" to use technology on behalf of its clients. — Paige Hagy

TAPCO Credit Union hires Texas banker as information chief

Matt McDaniel Matty Photography

TAPCO Credit Union in Fircrest, Washington, hired Jason Allen as chief information officer. Allen, who started his new job June 13, joined the $590 million-asset TAPCO from American Bank in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he was director of information technology operations. — Frank Gargano