Mortgage Machine
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THURSDAY JULY 8, 2021 VOL. 186 No. 129 AMERICANBANKER.COM Follow us on Twitter @AmerBanker Wyndham Hotels experiments 5 with new guest reward: Bitcoin The hospitality chain and its fintech partner Mortgage machine Bakkt are trying to tap into the crypto craze by asking guests if they would prefer the Revenue for CF Bankshares' direct-to-consumer valuable (yet volatile) cryptocurrency over mortgage business shot up last year free stays or room upgrades. Page 5 See story on page 2 Walmart taps American Express 6 veteran to run membership plan $60M Walmart has hired a veteran of American Express to run Walmart+, the membership $50M program it unveiled less than a year ago to counter Amazon.com’s Prime plan. Page 6 $40M Credit Suisse teams $30M 7 up with JPMorgan for sustainable food fund $20M Credit Suisse Group and JPMorgan Chase’s asset and wealth management business $10M are working together to develop a new investment strategy focused on sustainable $0 nutrition. Page 7 2018 2019 2020 2021 to date Blend values IPO at $414M, Source: CF Bankshares 8 completes Title365 purchase The company is looking to sell 20 million shares, with a 3 million underwriters’ option, at between $16 and $18 per share. Page 7 BMO Harris turns to fintech dailybriefing 3 to create a smarter HSA Fannie and Freddie As the popularity of health savings accounts 9 forbearances drop to lowest Shake-up at OCC: grew, the Chicago bank decided it needed level since March 2020 1 Supervision teams will a more competitive product that tracks Rebounding employment brought total report to agency’s chief spending and uses artificial intelligence to forborne mortgages under 2 million, The chief operating officer now oversees maximize benefits. The high-tech Lively will according to the Mortgage Bankers numerous divisions at the Office of the help BMO soup up its offering. Page 3 Association. Page 8 Comptroller of the Currency. But as part of a reorganization, the COO’s position Zettle in: PayPal adapts Mr. Cooper sells reverse is being eliminated and several units will 4 its European card 10 servicing to Mortgage come under the direct authority of the reader for U.S. market Assets Management comptroller. Page 2 The payment company is blending The $16 billion Champion Mortgage technology from its Swedish subsidiary portfolio sale follows Ocwen Financial’s Quitting while ahead: with other features, such as invoicing, purchase of different assets from MAM a few 2 CF Bankshares exits to provide a more robust offering to U.S. weeks prior. Page 8 consumer-direct mortgages merchants. Page 4 The Ohio community bank generated 76% of its 2020 revenue from the three-year-old business line. But mortgages are cyclical, and the bank wants to step back before things get rough. (See chart above.) Page 2 THURSDAY JULY 8, 2021 AMERICANBANKER.COM PAGE 2 The shake-up comes as Hsu, a Biden by its three-year-old national direct-to- REGULATORY REFORM appointee, has signaled a change of direction consumer mortgage lending platform — for the OCC following Democratic criticism more than three-quarters of its total revenue over how the agency was managed under for 2020. Shake- the Trump administration. Paulson, who had Then last week, the bank announced plans become acting comptroller just days before to exit the business. up at OCC: President Biden took office, recently came According to CF, the holding company for under fire from Democrats on Capitol Hill 129-year-old CFBank, shrinking margins, after he urged lawmakers not to overturn the tougher competition and heightened price Supervision OCC’s controversial “true lender” rule. volatility drove the decision to bail from the The rule, criticized by consumer advocates predominantly online channel. teams will who say it benefited predatory lenders, was “During 2021, the mortgage lending invalidated by a Congressional Review Act environment in our opinion, and in particular resolution signed by Biden last week. DTC, has changed substantially,” CEO report to Timothy O’Dell wrote Tuesday in an email to American Banker. “Our mortgage-lending agency’s chief COMMUNITY BANKS focus go-forward will be on more traditional retail loan originations,” such as business By Brendan Pedersen from brokers and word-of-mouth referrals. July 06, 2021 Quitting while In 2020, CF’s net gains from selling WASHINGTON — The Office of the mortgage loans totaled $58.37 million on Comptroller of the Currency announced a ahead: CF originations topping $2 billion. Though the series of organizational changes Tuesday proportion of loan sales to total revenue fell that will result in key bank supervision units to 37% in the first quarter from 66% in the reporting directly to acting Comptroller Bankshares fourth quarter and 76% for the full year 2020, Michael Hsu. mortgage lending’s contribution remained The changes, which the OCC said in a exits con- significant, with net gains on loan sales press release were designed “to enhance the totaling $6.36 million in the three months agency’s efficiency and effectiveness,” will that ended March 31. include the elimination of the chief operating sumer-direct There’s no question the move will produce officer’s position. That position is currently a near-term drag on earnings. Indeed, the held by former acting Comptroller Blake mortgages $1.6 billion-asset CF said Thursday that its Paulson, who will take on the role of senior second-quarter results would include about deputy comptroller for supervision risk and By John Reosti $2.5 million in after-tax losses associated analysis, the agency said. July 06, 2021 with DTC mortgage lending. Traditionally, the agency’s COO has At its annual meeting last month, CF Brendan Nosal, who covers CF for Piper had authority over several supervisory Bankshares in Columbus, Ohio, spotlighted Sandler, termed the exit decision “an abrupt departments, including the offices of Bank the “extraordinary” earnings lift generated about-face in strategy” in a research note Supervision Policy, Midsize and Community Bank Supervision, Large Bank Supervision, and Supervision Risk and Analysis, as well Established 1836 One State Street Plaza, 27th floor, New York, NY 10004 as the Office of Management. Under the Phone 212-803-8200 AmericanBanker.com restructuring, all five of those divisions will report to Hsu. Editor in Chief Alan Kline 571.403.3846 Copy Editor Neil Cassidy 212.803.8440 The agency also said it plans to merge its Managing Editor Dean Anason 770.621.9935 Enterprise Risk Management Office with the Reporters/Producers OCC’s Office of Enterprise Governance. The Executive Editor Bonnie McGeer 212.803.8430 Laura Alix 860.836.5431, Kate Berry 562.434.5432 combined office will be overseen by Senior Washington Bureau Chief Joe Adler 571.403.3832 Deputy Comptroller Larry Hattix, who will Executive Editor, Technology Miriam Cross 571.403.3834 take on the title of chief risk officer. He will Penny Crosman 212.803.8673 Jim Dobbs 605.310.7780 succeed Bill Rowe, who will retire at the end BankThink Editor Rachel Witkowski 571.403.3857 of July. John Heltman 571.403.3847, Allissa Kline 716.243.2679 Community Banking Editor Paul Davis 336.852.9496 The changes, which are expected to be Hannah Lang 571.403.3855 implemented sometime this summer, “will Contributing Editor Daniel Wolfe 212.803.8397 John Reosti 571.403.3864, Gary Siegel 212.803.1560 improve collaboration, alignment, and Digital Managing Editor engagement within the agency,” Hsu said in Christopher Wood 212.803.8437 Kevin Wack 626.486.2341 the press release. For up to date and complete coverage go to AmericanBanker.com THURSDAY JULY 8, 2021 AMERICANBANKER.COM PAGE 3 Thursday. In a follow-up note Friday, Nosal seen as a plus — eventually. in HSAs totaled $82.2 billion by the end of slashed his second-quarter earnings estimate “As mortgage grew as a percentage of the 2020, a 25% increase over 2019, according to by 37% to 51 cents per share. top and bottom lines, earnings exhibited Devenir Research’s 2020 Year-End Devenir “This may understate the magnitude of material seasonality, as well as cyclicality,” HSA Market Survey. the second quarter DTC loss,” Nosal wrote. Nosal wrote in the follow-up note. “The exit “We are at a tipping point in employee He reduced his full-year 2021 estimate 26% of the DTC business will provide far more benefits where high-deductible health to $2.28 per share. CF reported net income earnings visibility coupled with less volatility. plans are regularly replacing traditional of $6.4 million, or 96 cents per share, for We view this as a key positive.” deductible plans,” largely to keep premiums the quarter that ended March 31, and $29.6 As part of its plan to wind down direct-to- affordable, said Amy O’Meara Chambers, million, or $4.47 per share, for 2020. consumer mortgage lending, CF suspended chief operating officer and co-founder O’Dell declined to provide additional new rate lock commitments on June 30. The of HealthBridge Financial, a health care details on the exit decision’s impact on company said in its press release that it would benefits company in Grand Rapids, earnings, or whether CF has plans to replace close out its existing pipeline “in the next few Michigan. “The large financial institutions direct-to-consumer mortgage lending with months.” are seeing this wave coming and understand another business line. He cited the quiet that the contributions, not to mention the period in advance of its second-quarter rollovers and transfers from other accounts, earnings report, which is set for release CONSUMER BANKING add up quickly.” Aug. 4. Today, BMO Harris, a unit of BMO At the same time, O’Dell expressed Financial Group in Toronto, lets customers confidence that the company’s expanding BMO Harris deposit funds directly or through their core banking business would quickly fill any employers.