Financial institutions processed nearly $1.2 billion of suspected ransomware payments last year. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said there were 1,489 ransomware attacks in 2021, based on data from Bank Secrecy Act filings. Financial institutions reported $416 million of damages a year earlier. FinCEN determined that “a substantial number of ransomware attacks appear to be connected to actors in Russia.” Ransomware remains “a serious threat to our national and

Wells Fargo in San Francisco is holding discussions with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to address a number of investigations. The $1.9 billion-asset company, which set aside $2 billion in the third quarter to deal with legal matters, made the disclosure in its quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. “The company is in resolution discussions with the CFPB regarding a number of … investigations, inquiries and other matters,

New York Community Bancorp in Hicksville will likely need to exit the USDF Consortium to buy Flagstar Bancorp in Troy, Mich. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, in its conditional approval for the $2.6 billion deal, instructed the $63 billion-asset New York Community to divest its interest in the group within two years of completing the acquisition. The OCC said it reserves the right to reverse course and

Upstart Holdings in San Mateo, Calif., has cut 140 jobs. The fintech, which focuses on personal and auto loans, disclosed in a regulatory filing that it eliminated positions that help process loan applications. Upstart said the cuts were necessary “given the challenging economy and reduction in the volume of loans on our platform.”

Customers Bancorp in West Reading, Pa., has settled a legal dispute with Kabbage over the Paycheck Protection Program. The $20.4 billion-asset Customers disclosed in a regulatory filing that its bank will pay $58 million to Kabbage, which has been going through the bankruptcy process. Kabbage had claimed it was owed $65.5 million in fees tied to the PPP. Kabbage, through its KServicing brand, will “take commercially reasonable efforts” to maintain

Truist Financial in Charlotte, N.C., has formed an innovation team built around a gamification company it bought earlier this year. The $548 billion-asset company announced last week that Truist Foundry will work across business lines to develop and test products. The 45-person team includes a dozen engineers and designers from Long Game, which Truist bought for an undisclosed amount in May. Lindsay Holden, who co-founded Long Game, is the head

U.S. Bancorp in Minneapolis has disclosed a data breach involving credit card customers. The $370 billion-asset company filed a notice with the California Attorney General's office stating that some personal data was compromised when a vendor accidentally shared a file with the information. The event is believed to have taken place on Sept. 27. A company spokesperson told NBC News that about 11,000 cardholders were impacted. The shared data included

Coastal Financial in Everett, Wash., disclosed that three of its Banking-as-a-Service clients are preparing to exit the relationship. The $3.1 billion-asset company disclosed in a slidedeck that the number of active partners fell to 19 in the third quarter from 23 a quarter earlier. Looking at the pipeline, five companies have signed letters of intent, while two others are in the middle of testing. Coastal also said that the programs