Circle's plan to go public, Amazon's new payments tech for health care

January 12, 2024 2:57 PM

Tech company Circle files for an IPO; Amazon wants to extend its Just Walk Out technology to hospitals; Pacific Financial expands in suburban Oregon; and more in the weekly banking news roundup.

Circle

Circle plans to go public

Blockchain technology company Circle has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an IPO, an offering that has been rumored for more than a year. Circle issues the USDC stablecoin, which has a market capitalization of about $25 billion — making it the second largest stablecoin after Tether, which has a market cap of about $95 billion. Circle has diversified its financial and payment products over the past few years, and recently launched a virtual stablecoin that can be used to make payments on Mastercard's merchant network. "Stablecoin networks will become some of the most important financial structures in the world," said Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, during a recent Circle virtual conference. — John Adams

Mike Kane/Bloomberg

Amazon is selling checkout-free payments to hospitals

Amazon is hoping to extend its Just Walk Out technology to hospitals and other health care venues. The technology, most well known for Amazon Go stores, enables consumers to shop, retrieve and pay for items without paying at a point of sale terminal. Amazon instead uses a mix of cameras and sensors to identify items. The consumer's e-commerce account is charged for the payment. Amazon's technology has led to a race among other firms to build similar technology for other retailers, as Amazon has tried to expand the concept to other stores, such as its Whole Foods network. Checkout-free technology, which can track shoppers' movements in stores, has also proven to be a useful source of shopping data that can be used to inform marketing and cross-selling. — John Adams.

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Pacific Financial expands in Oregon with new commercial banking center

Pacific Financial in Aberdeen, Washington, the holding company for Bank of the Pacific, said it would expand in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area with a new commercial banking center in suburban Lake Oswego. A new team of seven will be led by veteran Portland-area bankers Katherine Ledson and Jon Little. "Our new Lake Oswego team provides opportunity for increased growth, portfolio diversification and presence in the greater Portland market," Walker Evans, the $1.2 billion-asset company's chief lending officer, said in a press release. The company also recently opened new branches in the Washington state cities of Olympia and Vancouver. — Jim Dobbs

Patricia Sullivan named global head of ICM at Deutsche Bank

On Monday, Deutsche Bank announced the appointment of Patricia (Trish) Sullivan as global head of Institutional Cash Management.

Sullivan joined Deutsche Bank in 2021, successfully building a unit focused on enhanced financial crime and compliance risk management. She has more than 15 years of experience at major European banks, including Standard Chartered Bank and UBS, and her expertise will be critical as the bank continues to enhance the ICM control environment while steering the business toward controlled growth.

Sullivan replaces Daniel Schmand, who will be retiring after a remarkable 36-plus year career at the bank.

Tsvetanka Nankova will assume the role of global head of sales for ICM & Trade Finance for Financial Institutions. Most recently, Nankova, who joined the bank in 2016, was chief of staff and head of corporate development for the corporate bank. — Editorial Staff

KeyCorp picks ex-OCC staffer as its next chief risk officer

KeyCorp in Cleveland promoted Darrin Benhart to the role of chief risk officer, effective Jan. 1, the parent company of KeyBank said in a press release. Benhart succeeds Mark Midkiff, who announced plans in November to retire from the company. Benhart, who will oversee Key's risk management program, will report to CEO Chris Gorman and join the company's executive management team, the release said. Benhart was most recently deputy chief risk officer. He came to Key in July 2022 after a 30-year career at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, where he served as deputy comptroller. Midkiff will remain at Key during the transition. — Allissa Kline

Lake Michigan CU taps Suncoast CFO as next chief executive

Lake Michigan Credit Union, the 16th largest credit union in the nation, announced that President and CEO Sandra Jelinski will retire in March.

The $13 billion-asset company based in Caledonia, Michigan, said in a press release Wednesday that Jelinski will be replaced by Julie Renderos, who currently serves as chief financial officer of Suncoast Credit Union in Tampa, Florida.

Suncoast is the nation's 10th largest credit union with more than $17 billion of assets.

Renderos was recently named one of American Banker's Most Powerful Women in Credit Unions. — Ken McCarthy

Blackstone venture eyes sale of $1.8 billion of Signature loans

A partnership including Blackstone is seeking to sell roughly $1.8 billion of commercial property loans from the failed Signature Bank.

The venture, which also includes Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Rialto Capital, is marketing the performing loans, which are backed mostly by apartments, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified.

In December, Blackstone and its partners bought a 20% stake in a joint venture that holds roughly $17 billion of Signature loans with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The FDIC maintained an 80% stake and provided financing equal to 50% of the venture's value.

Brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle, which advised Blackstone and its partners on the deal with the FDIC, is also marketing the newest transaction.

Spokespeople for Blackstone, which participated in the deal through Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies and Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, and the FDIC declined to comment. Spokespeople for CPPIB, Rialto and JLL didn't respond to requests for comment. — Natalie Wong, Bloomberg News

Caltech Employees Federal Credit Union names new CEO

Caltech Employees Federal Credit Union in La Canada, California, has named John Meeker as its next president and chief executive. The $2 billion-asset credit union announced Monday that Meeker, who is currently senior vice president and chief financial officer for the credit union, will assume his new role on April 2 of this year. He succeeds longtime President and CEO Rich Harris, who announced his retirement in April of last year after holding those roles for 38 years. "I know that John's leadership will be invaluable as we continue to provide outstanding value and service to our members," John Patterson, chair of CEFCU's board, said in a press release Monday. — Frank Gargano