Banner With News Plus
The current web part does not have an option that allows you to display the thumbnail that you set for the news articles. It uses the first photo that appears on the page. The News Center web part has an option that allows you to choose between a Thumbnail photo or a High Resolution photo (see screenshot below), and it would be helpful if this setting was also available in Banner With News Plus.
Thank you for suggesting this feature, @austinesa. Everything is clear and we will post an update here when one is ready.