Metropolitan Bank Holding in New York reported lower quarterly profit that reflected a reserve designed to address a probe into a former fintech client.
The $7.4 billion-asset company said in a press release that its third-quarter profit fell by 44% from a year earlier, to $12.3 million.
Metropolitan said it set aside $10 million to resolve a state agency’s investigation tied to a fintech client it last worked with in 2020. “With matters such as this behind us … we believe that the bank is well positioned to deliver financial outperformance relative to our peers,” the release said.
Metropolitan also incurred $1.8 million in technology costs in the quarter tied to an ongoing digital transformation initiative. The project, expected to be completed early next year, will cost the company $12 million to $13 million. Upgrades include data warehousing, core processing and instant payments through FedNow.
The company also said it continues to make progress in closing its Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform.