Regional banks

Many consumers are taking to the highways and the water for safe getaways during the pandemic — powering one of the few bright spots in lending. However, bankers warn that boomlets usually come with distinctive credit risks.

Lenders should be subjected to tough reviews of their readiness for economic threats posed by severe weather, required to disclose risks lurking in their portfolios and perhaps forced to set aside extra capital, a government study recently recommended.

“What COVID has done for us is it has showed us where to prioritize investments,” William Demchak said at an industry conference in discussing the Pittsburgh company's plans to speed up the shift to digital banking.

Justice Department officials have embarked on a rewrite of antitrust policy that could waive certain requirements for community bank mergers and provide fewer advantages to large, out-of-town buyers and banks in urban areas.

Only one of the 118 loans bought by the Federal Reserve through Aug. 31 was close to the $250,000 minimum in the rescue program, aimed small to midsize businesses hurt by the pandemic.