The low-cost deposits it gained in its purchase of 52 Wells Fargo branches, combined with higher interest rates, lifted Flagstar's net interest margin.
The nation’s fifth-largest bank now has the financial flexibility to consolidate more branches in existing markets and open new, smaller ones in cities where it has no retail presence, CEO Andy Cecere said.
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan and his fellow executives said they see nothing to suggest a slowdown is imminent. Their outlook was far more upbeat than that of JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon.
Robotic process automation is said to have a high return on investment, but adopting it on a large scale has proven challenging, especially at community banks.
Deposit premiums for bank mergers, which topped 10% in 2018 for the first time in years, are expected to keep rising as competition for cheap funding intensifies.
The bank will pay over $15 million in restitution and fines to settle claims that it neglected stop-payment requests and reopened deposit accounts without customers' consent.
New CEO John Turner hasn't fully laid out his vision for the future, but it clearly will involve hiring specialized lenders, balancing labor-saving AI with old-fashioned relationship building, and more streamlining.
