Revolut reacts to Meta's scam program, Sunwest hires Umpqua exec

October 4, 2024 2:14 PM

In this week's banking news roundup: Challenger bank Revolut calls for Meta's scam info program to reimburse victims; Sunwest Bank taps Umpqua's Mike McKean to lead treasury and payments; Fifth Third launches a new line of business; and more.

Photographer: Beata Zawrzel/NurP

Revolut slams Meta’s scam program, says it should reimburse victims

Following an announcement this week that Meta has started receiving information from U.K. banks about scams as part of an effort to take down the social media accounts perpetrating them, challenger bank Revolut used the announcement as an opportunity to call for the social media platform to share in victim reimbursement.

Revolut's statement comes as the U.K. nears the implementation date of a new rule that will require banks to reimburse victims of authorized push payment, or APP, fraud.

The bank, which gets more scam complaints than any other U.K. bank, released a report accompanying its critique of Meta. It claims 62% of scams reported to Revolut globally start on a Meta platform, typically Facebook or WhatsApp. Data from law enforcement agencies indicate social media platforms are indeed a major contact point between scammers and victims. — Carter Pape

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Sunwest Bank taps Umpqua executive to lead treasury and payments

Sunwest Bank has hired Mike McKean from Umpqua Bank to oversee deposit growth, payments strategy and sales.

As senior vice president, director of treasury and payments, McKean will help the $3 billion-asset bank provide consultative liquidity and working capital diagnostics to streamline payment processing, improve efficiencies and maximize working capital.

At Umpqua, McKean led the Treasury sales division for four years and helped grow sales production from $1 million to more than $10 million, Sunwest said in a press release. He has extensive experience in payments and payments automation, starting his career at First USA/Paymentech, the bank said. —Mary de Wet

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Fifth Third rolls out new line of business

Fifth Third Bancorp is launching a corporate and investment banking unit to serve clients in verticals like consumer and retail, energy and health care, the company announced Thursday.

The Cincinnati, Ohio-based bank is rolling out the new line of business under its commercial bank umbrella to serve clients on "more complex financial activities and expert investment advice." The commercial and investment bank unit will build on Fifth Third's long-running efforts to grow its investment banking, corporate finance and advisory and financial sponsors groups.

"This structure integrates key sales functions and coverage teams under one umbrella, which streamlines how we operate and enables us to serve the dynamic needs of our clients more effectively," said Fifth Third's head of commercial banking, Kevin Lavender.

The $213 billion-asset company tapped Kevin Khanna to lead the new unit. Khanna, who's been at the bank for nine years, said the corporate and investment banking initiative "enhances our competitive edge." —Catherine Leffert

CBA announces Citizens’ Brendan Coughlin as new board chair

The Consumer Bankers Association's board of directors has elected Brendan Coughlin, vice chair and head of consumer banking at Citizens Financial Group, as 2025 board chair. A seasoned industry leader with more than two decades of banking experience, Coughlin will succeed Eastern Bank's Quincy Miller at the completion of Miller's tenure.

Prior to Citizens, Coughlin worked at Bank of America and FleetBoston Financial in a variety of business areas, including corporate strategy, mortgage product management and retail distribution/M&A.

"Brendan's leadership comes at a critical time as we continue to navigate an increasingly complex political and regulatory landscape," CBA President and CEO Lindsey Johnson said in a press release on Wednesday.

Atlantic Union Bank's President and Chief Operating Officer Maria Tedesco was also elected as CBA board chair-elect for the upcoming year. —Traci Parks

Dallas bank takes next step in turnaround

First Foundation has reclassified $1.9 billion in loans from "held to maturity" to "held for sale," it announced Thursday, as part of a previously-announced effort to reduce its concentration in multifamily real estate debt, which has hampered the bank's growth in recent years.

The Dallas-based company began its strategic overhaul after it landed a $228 million capital infusion this summer. First Foundation had run into trouble after its outsized fixed-rate, multifamily loan portfolio wasn't bringing in enough revenue to balance its rising cost of deposits when interest rates rapidly increased.

CEO Scott Kavanaugh said in a prepared statement that the reclassification marks "an important next step" to "fortify the balance sheet" and "return the company to its historical profitability and performance levels."

Although the write-down to fair value of the nearly-$2 billion loan book will "meaningfully impact" the bank's third-quarter earnings, Kavanaugh said, he added that "we expect the move to provide the flexibility needed to work with credit-minded counterparties." —Catherine Leffert