Jim Dobbs

In the year's first instance of a credit union buying a bank, Georgia’s Own Credit Union in Atlanta has agreed to acquire nearby Vinings Bank. The Peach State is home to more than 300 banks, making it ripe for such deals.

With their costs soaring, farmers may need credit to make ends meet. Bankers see this as a chance to offer more loans, but worry that some borrowers may not be able to make their payments.

The process is expected to begin this summer and extend into late 2023, ultimately saving the Iowa company about $20 million annually.

Four-fifths of the state's community banks have disappeared since the start of the 2008 financial crisis. The founder of the newly chartered Scottsdale Community Bank calls the market "drastically underbanked."

Community bankers are excited that the Federal Reserve is poised to raise interest rates, which would make loans more profitable — unless rates rise so much they suppress demand.

James Blake plans to retire in May, culminating a 25-year run at the helm. Joseph Casey, the bank's president, was named his successor.

Costs climbed 11% in the fourth quarter, but the Georgia company says it remains on track to generate $175 million by the end of this year through a combination of expense cuts and revenue enhancements.

Customers are ramping up borrowing just as interest rates are poised to rise. That combination “sets us up nicely for 2022,” says CEO Brian Moynihan.

The economic and political conditions are in place for bank-credit union mergers to blow past last year's total of 13 despite the banking industry's strong opposition to them.

The companies originally hoped to complete the deal in late 2021. The buyer chalked up the delay to an overburdened Federal Reserve, rather than any problems with its application.

The New York bank attributed the gains to its aggressive hiring of banking teams on both coasts and robust loan demand from private equity and venture capital firms.

The Louisiana-based company is among a growing number of community banks that have taken on new talent in the wake of competitors' consolidation.

Some community banks and credit unions worry that by hiring out-of-state workers to fill their many job openings, as other employers have done, they could erode community ties.

The last three months of 2021 were strong for most lenders, which will report results soon. But the outlook for the coming months has been clouded by the spread of the newest coronavirus variant, which has many banks grappling with staffing shortages and branch restrictions.

The new business line is part of a broader expansion plan the Pennsylvania bank announced in 2021.

Industry fears that regulators were souring on bank mergers have eased somewhat after the Federal Reserve finally signed off on WSFS Financial’s acquisition of Bryn Mawr Bank and several other deals that had been awaiting the green light.

Eli Tinsley, the bank's chief banking officer, was promoted to president and chief executive.

The Oklahoma bank is eager to take the ground some competitors are ceding in oil and gas financing.

The Arkansas bank is working with 10 universities' athletic departments to create programs for women it hopes will one day join its ranks.

An investor who holds nearly 10% of Pacific Enterprise Bancorp shares urged others to oppose BayCom Corp’s $53 million acquisition offer, arguing that the price was too low. Despite this, a majority of both banks' shareholders voted in favor of the deal.