Banking

The Pennsylvania bank has agreed to sell its Exchange Underwriters subsidiary to World Insurance Associates for $30.5 million, saying that the deal will help pad its capital and liquidity.

Synchrony Financial bought Pets Best ahead of a pandemic-driven surge in the pet insurance business. Now it's selling the subsidiary for a $750 million after-tax gain.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has been a prolific acquirer, purchasing the insurance brokerages from multiple banks over the last year. Its management has indicated it has another $3.5 billion that it can use for more deals.

The market could find out next year how well foreclosure prevention innovations and home equity protect borrowers from growing strains on affordability.

Proceeds from the sale provide the bank with "flexibility to evaluate and pursue various strategic initiatives to redeploy capital in support of our core banking business," Evans CEO David Nasca said.

The Southeast regional bank plans to use the deal's sizable proceeds to pay down wholesale borrowings and restructure its securities portfolio. Numerous banks have made similar moves in recent months.

The FDIC launched a campaign Wednesday to educate the public about the importance of deposit insurance, a move designed to counter lingering concerns arising from this spring's bank failures and the resurgence of imitation banks.

Truist Bank has agreed to pay licensing fees to USAA for the use of mobile-check-deposit technology that USAA says it invented.

Chubb's Banks and the Digital Wallet Race: The Embedded Insurance Strategy looks to gauge how fintechs and banks view embedded insurance.

M&T Bank, Truist Financial and Eastern Bankshares are among the banks that have sold all or part of their insurance subsidiaries over the last year. Though the price is right, analysts warn that when interest rates decline, sellers will be without a key source of fee income.