WEATHER ALERT
Warren Buffett's firm sells another $1 billion of Bank of America stock but still holds almost 12%
Read full article: Warren Buffett's firm sells another $1 billion of Bank of America stock but still holds almost 12%Investor Warren Buffett's company has unloaded more of its Bank of America stake, selling nearly 25 million shares worth almost $1 billion over the past week.
U.S. Latinas contributed $1.3 trillion to the GDP, about as much as Florida's economy, report finds
Read full article: U.S. Latinas contributed $1.3 trillion to the GDP, about as much as Florida's economy, report findsLatinas contributed $1.3 trillion to the U.S. gross domestic product in 2021, up from $661 billion in 2010 and at a growth rate nearly triple that of non-Latinos during the same time period, according to a new report funded by Bank of America and conducted by professors at California Lutheran University and UCLA.
Coffee, sculptures and financial advice. Banks try to make new branches less intimidating
Read full article: Coffee, sculptures and financial advice. Banks try to make new branches less intimidatingAfter years of closing or mostly neglecting physical bank branches across the U.S., the nation’s largest banks are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on refurbishing old locations or building new ones, and in the process changing the look, feel and purpose of the local bank branch.
Merrill Lynch agrees to pay nearly $20 million to settle class action racial discrimination lawsuit
Read full article: Merrill Lynch agrees to pay nearly $20 million to settle class action racial discrimination lawsuitMerrill Lynch has agreed to pay nearly $20 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that accuses the Wall Street brokerage giant of racially discriminating against its Black financial advisers.
Supreme Court gives homeowners another chance in escrow dispute with Bank of America
Read full article: Supreme Court gives homeowners another chance in escrow dispute with Bank of AmericaThe Supreme Court has given homeowners another chance to force Bank of America and other large banks to pay interest on mortgage escrow accounts.
Overdraft fees could drop to as low as $3 under new Biden proposal
Read full article: Overdraft fees could drop to as low as $3 under new Biden proposalThe cost to overdraw a bank account could drop to as little as $3 under a proposal announced by the White House, the latest move by the Biden administration to combat fees it says pose an unnecessary burden on American consumers, particularly those living paycheck to paycheck.
Banks prepare to take on the Biden administration over billions of dollars in overdraft fees
Read full article: Banks prepare to take on the Biden administration over billions of dollars in overdraft feesThe Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to propose rules this week that further rein in banks’ ability to charge customers a fee when they overdraw their bank account.
CEOs of the nation's biggest banks warn that new regulations could harm the economy
Read full article: CEOs of the nation's biggest banks warn that new regulations could harm the economyThe heads of Wall Street’s biggest banks used an appearance on Capitol Hill to plead with senators to stop the Biden administration’s proposed changes to how banks are regulated, warning that the proposals could negatively impact the economy at a time of geopolitical turmoil and inflation.
A processing glitch has held up a 'small percentage' of bank deposits since Thursday, overseer says
Read full article: A processing glitch has held up a 'small percentage' of bank deposits since Thursday, overseer saysA glitch in the network that processes electronic transfers between nearly all U.S. bank accounts has led to delays in settling deposits, some of which remain stalled.
Bank of America profits jump 10% but warns of slowing spending by Americans
Read full article: Bank of America profits jump 10% but warns of slowing spending by AmericansBank of America posted a 10% rise in third quarter profits, helped by higher interest rates that allowed the bank to charge more for loans while keeping the bank’s expenses under control.
Stock market today: Asian markets edge lower as China reports slower growth in the last quarter
Read full article: Stock market today: Asian markets edge lower as China reports slower growth in the last quarterShares have fallen in Asia after China reported that its economy grew at a 4.9% annual pace in July-September, down from 6.3% in the previous quarter.
Bank of America $100 million payout: Who gets paid, how much, and when?
Read full article: Bank of America $100 million payout: Who gets paid, how much, and when?Bank of America, the nation’s second-largest bank, is in the hot seat, accused of double-dipping on fees imposed on customers with insufficient funds in their account, withholding reward bonuses explicitly promised to credit card customers, and misappropriating sensitive personal information to open accounts without customer knowledge or authorization.
Bank of America hit with $250M in fines and refunds for 'double-dipping' fees and fake accounts
Read full article: Bank of America hit with $250M in fines and refunds for 'double-dipping' fees and fake accountsBank of America must reimburse customers more than $100 million and pay $150 million in fines for “double-dipping” on overdraft fees, withholding reward bonuses on credit cards and opening accounts without customer consent.
Negro Leagues Museum starts drive for new $25M facility
Read full article: Negro Leagues Museum starts drive for new $25M facilityThe Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is embarking on a fundraising campaign to raise $25 million for a new building to house its education center and what has become one of the world’s unique collections of baseball memorabilia.
Bank of America profits grow 15%, avoids industry crisis
Read full article: Bank of America profits grow 15%, avoids industry crisisBank of America said its profits grew 15% last quarter, the latest of the big banks to do exceptionally well this earnings season as investors and consumers flock to Wall Street for safety after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.
US retail sales fall 1% amid high inflation, rising rates
Read full article: US retail sales fall 1% amid high inflation, rising ratesAmericans cut their spending at retail stores and restaurants in March for the second straight month, a sign consumers are becoming more cautious after a burst of spending in January.
Video: Elderly couple robbed by suspect who followed them from bank to credit union in NW Houston, HPD says
Read full article: Video: Elderly couple robbed by suspect who followed them from bank to credit union in NW Houston, HPD saysA surveillance video was released of a suspected bank jugger who targeted an elderly couple Tuesday afternoon in northwest Houston, according to the Houston Police Department.
‘What’s going on with Bank of America?’ Social media users call out financial giant over missing money
Read full article: ‘What’s going on with Bank of America?’ Social media users call out financial giant over missing moneyBank of America was trending on social media Wednesday after many customers discovered that money was missing from their accounts. The concerned consumers shared their experiences online, calling out the financial giant and demanding answers.
KPRC 2 Investigates: Bank cancels account, keeps $6,300 from customer
Read full article: KPRC 2 Investigates: Bank cancels account, keeps $6,300 from customerMost of us depend on banks to keep our money safe. But some consumers say when they needed their money their bank held it for days and sometimes weeks. They called KPRC 2 Investigates for help. Investigator Amy Davis is looking into what you need to know about your rights and your money.
With inflation sticking around, Biden targets ‘junk fees’
Read full article: With inflation sticking around, Biden targets ‘junk fees’With time running out before the election, President Joe Biden highlighted his administration’s push to crack down on so-called junk fees that banks and other companies charge their customers. The announcement comes after months of high inflation has eaten away at Americans’ savings and made the economy the top issue for voters.
With Americans feeling pinched, Biden targets 'junk fees'
Read full article: With Americans feeling pinched, Biden targets 'junk fees'With time running out before the election, President Joe Biden highlighted his administration’s push to crack down on so-called junk fees that banks and other companies charge their customers.
KPRC 2 Investigates: Zelle fraud victims rarely get their money back
Read full article: KPRC 2 Investigates: Zelle fraud victims rarely get their money backChase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo... no matter which bank you use, you probably trust your bank to protect your money. But consumer advocates are calling out the nation's largest banks for giving thieves easy access to your cash through an app and platform they created. They say new numbers from some of those banks show just how much criminals are making from Zelle.
Bank CEOs questioned on consumer protections, social issues
Read full article: Bank CEOs questioned on consumer protections, social issuesThe CEOs of the nation’s biggest banks returned to Capitol Hill for a second day Thursday, and Senate Democrats strongly urged them to do more to help and protect their customers, while Republicans questioned whether banks should weigh in on hot-button social issues.
Bank CEOs warn that US economy faces 'daunting' challenges
Read full article: Bank CEOs warn that US economy faces 'daunting' challengesThe CEOs of the nation’s biggest banks have appeared in front of Congress and given a dim view of the U.S. economy, reflecting the financial and economic distress many Americans are facing.
Bank of America announces zero down payment, zero closing cost mortgages for first-time homebuyers in Black and Hispanic communities nationwide
Read full article: Bank of America announces zero down payment, zero closing cost mortgages for first-time homebuyers in Black and Hispanic communities nationwideBank of America said it is now offering first-time homebuyers in a select group of cities zero down payment, zero closing cost mortgages to help grow homeownership among Black and Hispanic/Latino communities.
Bank of America's overdraft fees down 90% under new policy
Read full article: Bank of America's overdraft fees down 90% under new policyBank of America says the revenue it gets from overdrafts has dropped 90% from a year ago, after the bank reduced overdraft fees to $10 from $35 and eliminated fees for bounced checks.
KPRC 2 Investigates new Zelle scam transferring thousands of dollars from bank accounts
Read full article: KPRC 2 Investigates new Zelle scam transferring thousands of dollars from bank accountsHave you ever received one of those text messages that appear to be from your bank or a retailer confirming a transfer or purchase you didn’t make? By now, you likely know those messages are usually scams. The scammer wants you to click on the link so that you will give them your financial information. But this new scheme takes it a step further.
Bank of America Q1 profits fall 12%, much less than rivals
Read full article: Bank of America Q1 profits fall 12%, much less than rivalsBank of America posted a 12% decline in first-quarter profits from a year earlier, a decline that was much less than the ones its rivals had reported the previous week.
‘Black Panther’ director mistaken for bank robber in Atlanta
Read full article: ‘Black Panther’ director mistaken for bank robber in AtlantaPolice said movie director Ryan Coogler was briefly handcuffed by Atlanta police after a bank teller mistook him for a robber when he passed her a note while trying to withdraw a large amount of cash from his account.
BofA CEO: Consumers spending at fastest pace he's seen
Read full article: BofA CEO: Consumers spending at fastest pace he's seenThe head of the nation’s second-largest bank said consumers are spending “at a faster rate” than he’s ever seen but he remains concerned about how inflation and supply-chain issues will influence the economy going into the winter.
Bank of America's 2Q profit jumps, helped by fewer bad loans
Read full article: Bank of America's 2Q profit jumps, helped by fewer bad loansBank of America’s second quarter profit more than doubled from a year earlier, as the consumer banking giant was able to move more loans onto the “good” side of its balance sheet as the pandemic wanes.
Grandmother dies after being shot during ATM robbery in NW Harris County
Read full article: Grandmother dies after being shot during ATM robbery in NW Harris CountyThe family of a woman who was shot twice during a robbery at an ATM in Houston gathered over the weekend praying for a miracle for their loved one.
Freed from COVID restrictions, big US banks hike dividends
Read full article: Freed from COVID restrictions, big US banks hike dividendsRecently freed from regulators’ coronavirus restrictions, the largest U.S. banks have announced plans to return tens of billions of dollars to their shareholders over the next year in the form of dividends and stock buybacks.
Bank of America profit doubles in 1Q to $8.1 billion
Read full article: Bank of America profit doubles in 1Q to $8.1 billionBank of America’s profits doubled in the first quarter, the bank said Thursday, as the improving economy allowed it to release billions from its loan-loss reserves that it originally set aside in the early days of the pandemic.
Banks to see big profits as COVID ‘bad’ loans become ‘good’
Read full article: Banks to see big profits as COVID ‘bad’ loans become ‘good’The nation’s largest banks are expected to report big profits for the first quarter amid renewed confidence that pandemic-battered consumers and businesses can repay their debts and start borrowing again.
Asian stock markets advance after new Wall St high
Read full article: Asian stock markets advance after new Wall St highAsian stock markets have risen after Wall Street hit a record high following an uptick in U.S. inflation and a order by regulators to suspend use of Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine.
March hiring accelerated to 916K, yet many jobs remain lost
Read full article: March hiring accelerated to 916K, yet many jobs remain lostAmerica’s employers unleashed a burst of hiring in March, adding 916,000 jobs in a sign that a sustained recovery from the pandemic recession is taking hold as vaccinations accelerate, stimulus checks flow through the economy and businesses increasingly reopen.
US jobless claims rise to 719K as virus still forces layoffs
Read full article: US jobless claims rise to 719K as virus still forces layoffsCalifornia added 141,000 jobs in February as more than a quarter of a million people returned to the workforce. The California Employment Development Department said Friday, March 26, that the state's unemployment rate in February was 8.5%, down from 9% in January. The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of claims increased from 684,000 the week before. Less than a year ago, the jobless rate had hit 14.8%. Some economists are even more optimistic: Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at the tax advisory firm RSM, is predicting 1 million added jobs for March.
Houston bank clerk accused of stealing nude photos of unknowing customers
Read full article: Houston bank clerk accused of stealing nude photos of unknowing customersA Bank of America spokesperson said the company fired Juan Esteban Ramirez after two customers, both 20-year-old women, filed police reports against him. “She was unsure how to look up her Bank of America account information. But after she left the bank, the victim noticed the sent messages on her smartwatch and filed a police report. Ad“In this case, he actually texts that victim from his personal cell phone and threatens her and says he has those pictures from her cell phone,” Forcht said. “We have a pattern of behavior here and hope to be able to identify another, whether it be one, two, three, ten more victims,” Forcht said.
Maskless woman seen in body-cam bank video arrested after incident at another business, officials say
Read full article: Maskless woman seen in body-cam bank video arrested after incident at another business, officials sayGalveston Bank incidentGalveston police said Terry Wright refused to wear a mask inside of a Bank of America branch. Terry Wright was charged with resisting arrest and criminal trespass last week after refusing to wear a face mask inside a Galveston bank. Woman describes bank incident as ‘absolutely ridiculous’The maskless woman involved in the incident at a bank in Galveston spoke last week..During a phone interview with KPRC 2, Wright said although she has yet to see video of the incident, she wouldn’t do anything differently. Officers recognized Wright from video of the incident that occurred at the Bank of America location is Galveston last week. AdWright was taken into custody and transported to the Galveston County Jail by Texas City Police department for booking and processing.
A meager gain in US jobs last month highlights virus' damage
Read full article: A meager gain in US jobs last month highlights virus' damageThe increase of just 49,000 positions in January made scarcely any dent in the nearly 10 million jobs that remain lost since the virus intensified nearly a year ago. The tepid increase followed a decline of 227,000 jobs in December, the first loss since April. Most of the drop in unemployment occurred because some people out of work found jobs, but others stopped looking for work and were no longer counted as unemployed. And without an increase of 80,000 temporary jobs, the economy would have posted a net loss for January. Still, more than 4 million Americans have lost jobs and stopped looking for work since the pandemic began.
Former Bank of America employee accused of sending nude photos of customer to his cellphone
Read full article: Former Bank of America employee accused of sending nude photos of customer to his cellphoneHOUSTON – A former Bank of America employee is accused of sending nude photos of a customer to his cellphone on Sept. 14, 2020, according to the bank. The ex-employee, identified as Juan Esteban Ramirez, was charged with unlawful disclosure of intimate visual material, according to court documents. Ramirez gained access to the customer’s photos while assisting with her account on her cellphone, according to court documents. He sent the woman’s intimate photos to himself without permission of the Bank of America customer, according to court records. Bank of America said Ramirez was terminated in early October after the bank became aware of the allegation.
Bank profits remain resilient despite lingering pandemic
Read full article: Bank profits remain resilient despite lingering pandemicIn the early months of the U.S. pandemic, banks set aside tens of billions of dollars to cover losses that could come from loans that were suddenly going bad. On top of the stimulus, banks entered into this pandemic the healthiest they’ve been in years and certainly healthier than they were before the financial crisis of 2008. JPMorgan set aside $611 million to cover potentially bad loans in the third quarter, a fraction of the $10.47 billion the bank set aside to cover bad loans in the second quarter. On Wednesday, Bank of America said it set aside $1.4 billion to cover potentially bad loans, far less than the $5.1 billion it set aside three months earlier. Most of the worry seems to reflect investors' uncertainty about whether banks will have to set aside additional billions in the future.
Bank of America profit falls 15.6% in third quarter
Read full article: Bank of America profit falls 15.6% in third quarterCHARLOTTE, N.C. – Consumer banking giant Bank of America says third-quarter profit declined 15.6% from a year earlier, but saw less need to put aside money to cover potentially bad loans, citing improvements in the U.S. economy. The North Carolina-based bank said Wednesday that it earned a profit of $4.88 billion, or 51 cents per share, down from a profit of $5.78 billion, or 56 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. BofA had $1.4 billion in loan-loss reserves in the third quarter, down from the $5.1 billion it set aside in the second quarter. BofA’s loan-loss reserves were higher than JPMorgan's, which only set aside $611 million in the quarter, but less than the $2.26 billion that Citigroup had set aside. The bank’s net interest yield — a measurement of how much profit the bank is earning on the loans it approved — was 1.72% in the quarter, down from 2.41% a year earlier.
Asian stocks follow Wall St lower as stimulus hopes fade
Read full article: Asian stocks follow Wall St lower as stimulus hopes fadeStocks are pulling slightly higher in the early going on Wall Street, Wednesday, Oct. 14, as investors pore over another batch of earnings reports from big U.S. companies. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)Asian stocks followed Wall Street lower on Thursday as hopes U.S. leaders will agree on a new economic stimulus before the Nov. 3 presidential election faded. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.1% to 3,337.51 and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo fell 0.5% to 23,517.63. On Wall Street, companies that rely on consumer spending, banks and technology and communication stocks bore the brunt of the selling. Wells Fargo dropped 6% after its earnings were lower than Wall Street expected.
Bank of America's 2Q results hurt by pandemic like others
Read full article: Bank of America's 2Q results hurt by pandemic like othersNEW YORK Bank of America's second quarter profits were sawed in half and the consumer banking giant set aside billions of dollars to cover potentially bad loans caused by the pandemic. Bank earnings this quarter have begun to paint a picture of American families and businesses struggling to pay bills with swaths of the nation's economy shut down. Those provisions come on top of the tens of billions they set aside in the first quarter when the pandemic first began to bloom. Because it is so consumer-focused, BofA is feeling the effects of the coronavirus pandemic more acutely than other major banks. The bank also revised down its outlook for the U.S. economy, following similar actions by other banks this week.
Bank of America pledges $1 billion to fight racial inequality
Read full article: Bank of America pledges $1 billion to fight racial inequalityBank of America is donating $1 billion over the next four years to community programs and small businesses to help address economic and racial inequality that has been exacerbated by Covid-19. The billion-dollar donation is an expansion of the several hundreds of millions of dollars Bank of America donates to nonprofits and lends to small, minitority-owned businesses. Bank of America said the money will expand health services, like vaccination clinics, in communities of color, "support" small businesses, and recruitment of new bank employees in economically disadvantaged communities. Bank of America's donation, which amounts to $250 million a year over the next four, is tiny fraction of the $27.4 billion it made in 2019. It also returned a record $34 billion in share repurchases last year, the bank announced earlier this year.
Man robs drive-thru teller at northwest Houston bank
Read full article: Man robs drive-thru teller at northwest Houston bankHOUSTON – A man robbed a northwest Houston bank through its drive-thru window Thursday. The FBI said a man wearing a green sweater and blue hoodie robbed a drive-thru teller at a Bank of America in the 5200 block of North Shepherd at 8:30 a.m. He fled in a green Suburban. Officials did not release how much money was taken.