Latest banking news

May 6, 2022 2:29 PM

Regions Financial and JPMorgan Chase both recruited executives from Truist Financial. Elsewhere, Citizens Financial opened a wealth management office in Naples, Florida, and Equinox began accepting cryptocurrency at its gyms in New York.

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

Citizens opens wealth management office in Florida

Scott Eisen/Bloomberg News

Citizens Financial Group in Providence, Rhode Island, has opened a wealth management office in Naples, Florida. The launch of the Clarfeld Citizens Wealth Management center, which is staffed by a group of advisors specializing in wealth management, tax and estate planning and services, is part of CItizens’ recent efforts to expand its wealth management business. Last month, Citizens CEO Bruce Van Saun told American Banker that the 192 billion-asset company would be interested in pursuing an M&A deal in wealth management but said sellers’ prices were often too high for Citizens’ comfort. — Allissa Kline

Truist veteran Massey joins Regions Bank as tech chief ...

Gary Tramontina

Dan Massey will become chief enterprise operations and technology officer of Regions Financial in Birmingham, Alabama, on May 9. He previously spent nearly 30 years at the North Carolina-based Truist Financial and its predecessor companies, where he led teams focused on modernizing banking technology. At Regions, Massey will oversee teams that handle application development, information technology, data and analytics, and more. “As customers’ needs and expectations rapidly evolve, we have to stay on the leading edge of providing a compelling and convenient banking experience,” John Turner, president and CEO of the $164 billion-asset Regions, said in a press release. “Technology is at the core of how we serve customers.” — Miriam Cross

… while JPMorgan Chase snags Truist’s enterprise ethics officer

JPMorgan Chase hired Arnold Evans away from Truist Financial to become managing director and co-head of the “emerging middle market” segment within JPMorgan’s middle-market banking and specialized industries business, which focuses on midsize companies, municipalities and nonprofits. Evans was most recently the enterprise ethics officer at Truist. Before that he led commercial banking for SunTrust Banks. Evans started his career at JPMorgan in New York, where he worked for eight years in equity capital markets and the financial institutions group. In his new role he will work with co-head Terry Hill to lead commercial bankers in more than 125 locations around the country, serving emerging middle-market companies with up to $100 million in annual revenue. — Allissa Kline

Equinox adds crypto as a payment option

Michael Nagle/Bloomberg News

The gym chain Equinox this week began accepting cryptocurrency at its New York locations, with other outlets to follow, according to the chain's website. The gym has partnered with BitPay, which supports bitcoin, dogecoin, ethereum and several other cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. Cryptocurrency is still not widely accepted for direct payments, with most merchants using payment systems that convert cryptocurrency to traditional money before the point of sale — or using stablecoins, which are pegged to dollars or other currency to mitigate crypto's volatility. Some merchants, including luxury good sellers, Tesla and WeWork, have embraced crypto. — John Adams

Rapyd lanches virtual business accounts

Smith Collection/Gado/Photographer: Smith Collection/G

The fintech-as-a-service firm Rapyd has launched a digital account that allows organizations to accept local-currency bank transfers in more than 40 countries in about 25 currencies. With the virtual accounts there is no need to execute cross-border wire transfers to a single account and then manage separate bank accounts in different countries. Through an application programming interface, the virtual accounts can be paired with other Rapyd products that support collections, disbursements and a digital wallet. Banks and technology companies have made streamlining cross-border payments a priority, hoping to draw clients by avoiding correspondent banks and other intermediaries that manage currencies and regulations in different markets. — John Adams