Banks are finalizing mergers far faster than in recent years, with deals often closing months ahead of schedule. Analysts attribute the acceleration to rollbacks of Biden-era rules that had heightened scrutiny of mergers and prolonged M&A reviews. Faster approvals have reduced costs, cut uncertainty, and allowed banks to integrate and realize efficiencies sooner, potentially fueling more merger activity, experts say.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is considering revisions to its larger participant rules, which would bring changes to the international money transfer market. Bigger companies such as Western Union and MoneyGram would still face CFPB supervision under the proposed revisions, but smaller and midsize providers would face reduced oversight. "The current threshold is probably overinclusive," said attorney Eamonn Moran of Holland & Knight, noting that additional protections exist under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act.

Truist Financial is kicking off a five-year effort to open 100 branches and renovate over 300 existing locations in cities such as Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Miami, Philadelphia and the District of Columbia. The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank is targeting mass affluent clients and has grown its premier banking team by 50% in the past year to serve such clients.

PayPal has partnered with Mesh to develop a tool that allows merchants and customers to convert a variety of digital currencies and stablecoins. PayPal plans to introduce the tool in the US for the holiday shopping season, with the goal of eventually enabling merchants to settle with PayPal's PYUSD stablecoin.

Federal Reserve officials expressed concerns about inflation and the labor market during their most recent policy meeting, although they ultimately opted to keep interest rates unchanged, according to minutes from the gathering. "Participants generally pointed to risks to both sides of the Committee's dual mandate, emphasizing upside risk to inflation and downside risk to employment," the minutes show. Two officials dissented from the decision to leave rates unchanged.

US banks have reduced their exposure to municipal debt to just 1.18% of total assets, the lowest since the financial crisis. Despite appealing yields and a low default rate, banks and insurance companies have pulled back from the municipal market, holding $295 billion in securities and $190 billion in direct loans from municipalities.

Fifth Third Bancorp has acquired DTS Connex, a cash management software company specializing in cash logistics and risk management for multilocation businesses. "This acquisition expands our ability to automate cash operations and fosters deeper collaboration across the cash ecosystem through advanced data sharing," said Bridgit Chayt, head of commercial payments at Fifth Third.

A small number of lenders will test the latest version of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's Uniform Appraisal Dataset, UAD 3.6, in September, with optional industrywide use starting in January and adoption of the updated Uniform Residential Appraisal Report becoming mandatory in November 2026. The update to the Uniform Mortgage Data Program is based on the MISMO 3.6 standard, which streamlines the appraisal process and improves data consistency, said Rebecca Clapham of Citywide Home Mortgage.

Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, is the most likely candidate to be nominated by President Donald Trump for chair of the Federal Reserve, according to a poll of economists and market strategists. However, former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh was respondents' top choice for the candidate they think should be the nominee.