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The two banks are now targeting May 27, three months later than their previous goal. The transaction, which would create a top-six U.S. bank by asset size, was originally expected to be completed last fall.

The bank was already mulling headcount and compensation reductions in early September.

The North Carolina bank's new financing program will allow electric car buyers to include the cost of an at-home charging station in their auto loan.

After soured loans rose above the private student lender's expectations in 2022, its stock price fell 16% on Thursday. One analyst wrote that "persistent credit issues have damaged management's credibility."

In a reversal from five years ago, six of the eight biggest U.S. banks by branch count now offer the loans, which observers see as safer alternatives to payday loans.

Indexes show heightened expectations for a recession and souring loans. But executives are upbeat about middle-market businesses and overall job growth.

Repo markets and the bank deposit business, in particular, would be upended if the U.S. were to default on its debt, experts say.

The card network sees digital payment opportunities and upside from China's reopening, but inflation and the slower pace of travel spending could slow growth.

Members of the American Bankers Association's Economic Advisory Committee expect gross domestic product to stall in 2023. Other surveys show a modest contraction. Lenders say sentiment among their borrowers also points to a slight slowdown.

The declining credit quality included more borrowers with higher credit scores falling behind on their credit card payments. But executives said the increase remains within expectations as it continues seeing "very linear normalization" in credit.