Skip to main content

Fed Keeps Interest Rates on Hold in Split Decision at Final Meeting of Powell Era

 

By Keith Griffith

April 29, 2026



In an unexpectedly close split decision, Federal Reserve policymakers have decided to keep interest rates on pause in what is likely to be the final meeting under the supervision of Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Powell joined the 8-4 majority on the Federal Open Market Committee to vote in favor of leaving the federal funds rate unchanged at Wednesday's meeting in Washington, DC, judging inflation as running too hot to justify a rate cut.

At a press conference after the vote, Powell revealed that he will remain on the board of governors as a regular member after his term as chairman ends, saying: "After my term as chair ends on May 15, I will continue to serve as a governor for a period of time to be determined. I plan to keep a low profile as a governor. There is only ever one chair of the Federal Reserve Board."

Read the complete story here.

Comments

Post a Comment

Please no profanity or political comments.

Popular posts from this blog

Trump Accounts Program For Children Moves Forward With New Mobile App Launch

  WASHINGTON—The Treasury Department on Thursday announced the launch of the new Trump Accounts mobile app, marking the next phase of the Administration’s rollout of its new federally backed investment savings program for children ahead of the program’s official July 4 launch date. Donald Trump The app, now available through major mobile app stores, will serve as the primary platform for families to manage and activate Trump Accounts. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the app is intended to give parents and guardians a “simple, secure way” to participate in the program, which was created under the 2025 Republican tax-and-spending package. Families that already submitted IRS Form 4547 to enroll children in the program will begin receiving phased activation emails between now and July 4, according to Treasury. Under the program, eligible children born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028, can receive a one-time $1,000 federal seed contribution into a tax-deferred investment ac...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

Credit Where Credit's Due

  Credit Where Credit's Due   Credit reports 101 Used to calculate credit scores   and determine creditworthiness, credit reports are comprehensive documents that detail the credit history of a person or business, including current and former lines of credit, bankruptcy records, and more.  Credit assessments actually started in the 1700s   as a way to evaluate businesses’ financial standing rather than consumers’. The early 1800s brought efforts to standardize the credit reporting system as more businesses were started that needed loans, and the labor movement’s success in the second half of the 1800s led to an increased need for standardized c...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

47-Second Loan Décisions. Underwriting in Minutes. How AI is Revolutionizing Turnaround Time in Mortgage Lending

May 27, 2026 CU Today TORONTO–While AI has been deployed across a host of back office functions, on the consumer-facing side its promise is increasingly being seen in mortgage lending, where lenders are promising mortgage approval decisions in as little as 47 seconds, reporting that up to a third of inquiries are now being handled by chatbots, and slashing underwriting time to just minutes. Toronto-based TD Bank Group said it has also deployed its first agentic artificial intelligence system in mortgage lending, reducing the time required to prepare applications for underwriting from an average of roughly 15 hours to less than three minutes. According to a statement from TD Bank, the new AI model automates mortgage pre-adjudication — the process that occurs before a human underwriter reviews an application. The bank said the system classifies borrower documents, extracts and validates financial information, calculates income, performs policy and consent checks, identifies discrepancie...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

AI Rapidly Reshaping How Consumers Discover, Compare & Choose Banking Products (But Trust Remains an Issue)

  Frank Diekmann May 26, 2026 SYDNEY — Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping how consumers discover, compare and select banking products, forcing financial institutions to rethink their digital marketing and customer acquisition strategies, according to a new report from Bain & Company .  The report, titled “How AI Rewrites the Rules of Brand Discoverability in Banking,” found that AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Claude and Google Gemini are increasingly acting as the first point of contact between consumers and banks, particularly in Australia, where consumers are using the technology to evaluate products, interpret fees and even prepare applications for loans and credit cards.  According to Bain & Company, the traditional banking sales funnel — once driven by branches, brokers, advertising and search engine rankings — is rapidly shifting toward AI-generated recommendations and responses. ‘Increasingly Influencing Choice’ “AI assistants increasingly influen...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

‘Statistically Better Than Humans’: Revolut Says AI Is Transforming AML Monitoring

5/25/2026 08:36 am     WASHINGTON—Artificial intelligence is now outperforming humans in some key areas of financial crime compliance, according to American Banker, which reported comments from Revolut U.S. CEO Cetin Duransoy during Semafor’s Banking on the Future Forum in Washington. Duransoy said AI-driven transaction monitoring at the fintech performs “statistically significantly better than human reviews of the transactions,” allowing human investigators to focus on more complex cases. Duransoy said AI has evolved from a supplemental tool into “core infrastructure” at Revolut, helping the company manage regulatory requirements across 39 countries while also supporting know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering functions. He added that every employee at the company now uses AI in some capacity, including customer service systems powered by large language models that generate responses using actual account information. The executive also warned that financial institutions ...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

Sunday Reading - Changing the Map

  Changing the Map     Redistricting, explained Congressional redistricting is the process by which states redraw electoral district boundaries   that determine representation in the US House of Representatives. The Constitution, federal law, and court rulings require districts to have roughly equal populations, avoid discrimination against racial or language minorities, and, in most states, be geographically contiguous. For most of American history, redistricting has followed a predictable cycle, occurring every 10 years after the census.   Gerrymandering is the deliberate manipulation of district boundaries to advantage one political party. Common tactics  by both major American political parties include packing opposition voters i...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

Cox Lowers Auto Sales Forecast as Rates Rise, 'Outlook Worsening'

Economist says auto loan rates will rise to a 21-year high by year’s end. Interest rates for cars are likely to hit 21-year records by the end of the year, further raising monthly payments and driving down sales as many buyers hold on to aging vehicles a little longer, Cox Automotive analysts said Wednesday. During Cox Automotive’s forecast call, the analysts announced lower forecasts on both new and used vehicles for 2022, compared with its previous quarterly forecast in June . New car sales that in June had been expected to fall 3.4% to 14.4 million this year are now expected to fall 8.1% to 13.7 million. Used car sales that in June had been expected to fall 8.6% to 37.1 million are now expected to fall 10.6% to 36.3 million. The forecast for new car sales was reduced for the third time this year not only because supply shortages haven’t improved as much as expected, but also because higher rates are driving up monthly payments. Cox Automotive Chief Economist Jonathan Sm...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

Letter to Credit Unions Says NCUA Exam Modernization Now Underway

ALEXANDRIA, Va.—NCUA has sent a Letter to Credit Unions ( 21-CU-08 ) detailing the agency's transition to modernized systems. The agency said it will begin this transition in August. NCUA’s efforts will include the implementation of emerging and secure technology that supports the NCUA’s examination, data collection, field of membership, and reporting efforts. “These new applications will streamline processes and procedures and provide significant benefits to credit union users,” NCUA said. Key areas affected: NCUA Connect Admin Portal Consumer Access Process and Reporting Information System (CAPRIS) 1 Modern Examination & Risk Identification Tool (MERIT) Data Exchange Application (DEXA) Training Available To prepare credit unions for the transition to these new systems, NCUA said it will provide credit union user training through various avenues, including: A self-paced training curriculum covering MERIT functionality available through the NCUA’s Learning Management Service An...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

IRS Reporting Proposal Scaled Back, but Still 'Flawed'

On Tuesday, Senate Democrats distributed an update to the controversial IRS reporting requirements that the credit union industry has been very vocally opposed to since it was unveiled in late June. According to the updated proposal rolled out Tuesday, it would require financial institutions to report inflows and outflows of personal and business accounts, as well as transfers between accounts of the same owner, if it is more than $10,000 per year. The proposal floating around for the past four months had the threshold at $600 per year. The requirements do not apply to payroll deposits for wages or to those receiving Social Security benefits. In response to the updated IRS reporting proposal, NAFCU President/CEO Dan Berger said, “It has become abundantly clear that Americans oppose the IRS obtaining additional information on their financial accounts. The updated plan is nothing more than window dressing in an attempt to shore up support for a flawed proposal. Instead of creating financ...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

Reuters: Trump Regulators Launch Biggest Bank Oversight Overhaul Since 2008

Is NCUA next? WASHINGTON—Federal banking regulators under President Trump are undertaking what Reuters described as the most significant overhaul of bank supervision since the 2008 financial crisis, shifting examiner focus away from process and compliance issues and toward what agencies consider “material” financial risks. According to Reuters, the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. have directed examiners to concentrate on risks that pose direct threats to a bank’s safety and soundness, rather than on paperwork deficiencies, governance concerns or procedural issues that do not immediately affect financial stability. Reuters reported that regulators have also moved away from evaluating banks based on “reputational risk,” a supervisory concept long criticized by banks as overly subjective. The change follows complaints from President Trump and others that financial institutions have used reputational-risk considerations...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»