Daniel Wolfe

Bling Nation, the mobile payments and loyalty company, has shut down its service in a move it insists is only temporary. Based in Palo Alto, Calif., and known for its colorful cellphone payment stickers, Bling says its service interruption is part of a bid to stay competitive by rolling out a…

As students and staff return to school, the highly transmissible Delta variant of Covid-19 has caused cases, hospitalizations and death rates to soar across the country.

Executives from banks, credit unions, card issuers and investment firms at American Banker’s Card Forum discussed ways the public’s embrace of digital transactions and credit alternatives like buy now/pay later is shaping everything from products to business strategies.

Michael Hsu, the acting head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, said the agency is considering steps such as urging institutions to choose board members from a diverse candidate pool, “or requiring institutions to either diversify their boards or explain why they have not.”

The Louisiana-based Barksdale has agreed to purchase HomeBank of Arkansas for an undisclosed price. It is the fourth deal involving the sale of a bank to a credit union in less than two weeks.

The $837 million-asset Commerce State is one of the largest banks ever to agree to be sold to a credit union.

Tricia Szurgot is joining Securityplus from First Commonwealth Federal Credit Union in Pennsylvania.

By putting younger, more diverse talent in executive roles, CEOs of institutions such as Kaua’i Federal Credit Union in Hawaii and OnPath Federal Credit Union in Louisiana are taking steps to better represent the communities they serve.

To increase its share of global card spending through gig-economy fintechs and startups, Amex is extending its rewards through a partnership with digital issuing vendor i2c.

Daniel Wolfe is content director for community banking and payments at American Banker.

The $104 million-asset Finex Credit Union in East Hartford plans to partner with the $52 million-asset First Connecticut Credit Union in Wallingford.