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Market Intelligence
Wells Fargo’s Opportunity Lost
It was perhaps the most severe regulatory penalty ever meted out: In February 2018, the Federal Reserve ordered that Wells Fargo & Co.’s total assets couldn’t exceed $1.95 trillion until it completed an arduous set of governance and compliance reforms following a fake account scandal that victimized millions of consumers. In June 2025, after more than seven years and the resolution of 14 consent orders, the asset cap was lifted. How much was lost? No one can say for sure, but it’s easy to extrapolate by looking at San Francisco-based Wells’ big-bank rivals. Even the slowest-growing institution during the asset…
Buy Now, Pay Later Presents Challenges for Banks
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) loan volumes have blossomed in the digital age. According to data from eMarketer, 32.6% of Americans 14 years old or older, and 40.6% of digital buyers, will use the layaway-like service this year. That’s 92.6 million people — most of them millennials or younger — taking out layaway-like installment loans worth an estimated $116.7 billion for one-time purchases of clothing, technology, furniture and even groceries, and the numbers are growing. Is this an opportunity for banks or a problem? Probably a little of both. BNPL loans are often facilitated by merchants at the point of…
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WRITTEN BY
John Engen
Contributing Writer
John Engen is a contributing writer for Bank Director. He has more than 30 years of experience as a business journalist, writing for a variety of newspapers and magazines, and was a foreign correspondent for the Associated Press. He graduated with a degree in economics and international relations from the University of Minnesota and did his post-graduate work in Asian studies at the University of Hawai’i.