This Week in Finance News: 12 Stories You Need to See

A roundup of the week's most newsworthy financial industry press releases from PR Newswire, including a widening gender gap in homeownership and a slight increase in US consumer confidence. 

NEW YORK, March 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With thousands of press releases published each week, it can be difficult to keep up with everything on PR Newswire. To help journalists covering the finance industry stay on top of the week's most newsworthy and popular releases, here's a roundup of stories from the week that shouldn't be missed.

The list below includes the headline (with a link to the full text) and an excerpt from each story. Click on the press release headlines to access accompanying multimedia assets that are available for download.

• 1. First Citizens Bank Enters into Whole Bank Purchase of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, N.A.
  The transaction is structured as a whole bank purchase with loss share coverage. First Citizens was selected to complete this transaction through a competitive bidding process.
• 2. Half of Employed Consumers Have Supplemental Income Sources in Addition to their Paychecks
  Anuj Nayar, Financial Health Officer at LendingClub, said, "A vast majority of consumers became used to working from home during the pandemic, and after returning to work, many kept flexible hours and turned to alternative income streams to expand their earning potential beyond a 9-to-5 job."
• 3. Swipe or Tap Your Way To A Home: New Rocket Visa Signature Card Is The First Credit Card Designed with Homeownership in Mind
  Those looking to purchase a home will earn 5% back, up to $8,000, to use toward closing costs and down payments – which is one of the most cited hurdles to homeownership.
• 4. Gender gap widens: Growth trend reverses for young single women homeowners
  After growing to 28.6% by 2021, the homeownership rate for single women dropped to 24.5% last year, wiping out almost half the gains made since 2016, when single women's homeownership was at an all-time low of 19.4%. At the same time, the homeownership rate for single men increased 2.7 percentage points in 2022 to 33.1%.
• 5. New VantageScore CreditGauge Highlights Increasing Consumer Credit Delinquencies
  The CreditGauge data also shows that consumers continued to miss credit payments at a modestly increasing rate, which is likely a reflection of how continuing inflation and higher interest rates are increasingly impacting some consumers' ability to stay current on their loan obligations.
• 6. BofA Data Finds the Surge in Housing Costs Varies by Metropolitan Area, with the Sun Belt Significantly Outpacing the West and Northeast
  Metropolitan areas in the Sun Belt like Phoenix and Tampa saw rent costs increase by as much as a staggering 26% and 23% YoY respectively, both of which are at a record high pace despite the Fed action aimed at taming price increases. Cities outside of the Sun Belt, like San Francisco, saw more muted growth, as low as 2.5% YoY.
• 7. US Consumer Confidence Increased Slightly in March
  "While consumers feel a bit more confident about what's ahead, they are slightly less optimistic about the current landscape. The share of consumers saying jobs are 'plentiful' fell, while the share of those saying jobs are 'not so plentiful' rose," said Ataman Ozyildirim, Senior Director, Economics at The Conference Board.
• 8. TD Bank Deepens Impact in Philadelphia with $2.5 million in Charitable Giving and Support for Diverse Homebuyers and Affordable Housing Programs
• "By making tangible increases in resources and economic opportunities in Philadelphia, diverse and underserved individuals and families can realize their full potential and have the same financial security as their neighbors," said Rob Curley, Regional President, Metro Pennsylvania and New Jersey for TD Bank.
• 9. Flexible Work is Here to Stay: 63% of Experienced Workers Report Flex Work is More Than Half Their Income
  Flexible workers are not immune to the worries of the challenging economy over recent years—but those with more experience report more confidence than their counterparts.
• 10. CFP Board Announces New Women's Initiative Endowed Scholarship
  The program will award up to $5,000 per qualified student seeking to complete an undergraduate-level or a certificate-level CFP Board Registered Program. Upon completing the required education coursework, scholarship recipients will be eligible to pursue the next steps to attain CFP® certification.
• 11. Northern Illinois Community Initiatives to provide access to $1 million in small business loans to support women, minority entrepreneurs over the next four years
• First Women's Bank opened its headquarters in Chicago's West Town neighborhood in fall 2021 with a mission to help women entrepreneurs access capital to start and expand their businesses.
• 12. Filing Income Taxes in 2023: Tips & What to Expect 
  Many of those increases tax credits have now expired and taxpayers might notice decreased return dollars for Child Tax Credit, Credit for Child and Dependent Care, and Earned Income Tax.

Read more of the latest finance-related releases from PR Newswire and stay caught up on the top press releases by following @PRNfinance on Twitter.

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SOURCE PR Newswire