John Reosti

A Senate bill passed late Thursday provides additional funding but it also requires enhanced reporting on lending and credit quality from SBA. The measure is headed to the House.

NCUA Chairman issues apology after telling House subcommittee that CUs raising questions about the size of her agency's budget are not representing the best interests of their members.

NCUA Chairman claims credit unions that question budget increases don't represent members' best interests.

The SBA's popular 7(a) program has reached its maximum funding authority. Banks may have to decide on providing short-term aid to small businesses that face delays getting loans.

The New Jersey company's entrée into New York City had been expected for years. A week after opening an office on Madison Avenue, ConnectOne is eager to court small businesses and identify possible people to hire.

The NCUA is considering a plan that would let credit unions count certain forms of debt as capital. The plan, which would help credit unions book more loans, is drawing sharp rebukes from the banking industry.

Access National's four-year-old wealth management subsidiary has grown rapidly and is poised to enter the black. The allure of fee revenues has drawn many community banks into this field amid weak loan growth and tight interest margins.

The NCUA is proposing changes that would allow credit unions to approve applications more expeditiously, eliminating an edge long held by banks. The agency is also ready to let members make more commercial development loans.

In what would be the first comprehensive rewrite of its member business lending regulation since 2003, the NCUA Board unanimously approved a proposed series of changes that would make it markedly easier for CUs to lend to businesses.

Members of St. James Federal Savings and Loan Association will meet Saturday to vote on whether to convert from a mutual to a stock-owned bank as a prelude to selling itself to Wells Financial. Some believe the vote could set a worrisome precedent.

Worth Carter is reluctant to talk to investors and media. He is tight-fisted with costs and is willing to hold off making loans. His namesake bank doesn't offer online banking. But the institution is riding a hot streak of profitability that would make other banks jealous.

Bankers scratching their heads about how to attract millennials can take some comfort knowing that generations ago their predecessors also struggled to connect with America's youth. Crocker National Bank found a way, though.

Eastern Bank is considering a plan that would boost its biggest donations from $50,000 to seven-figure sums. While the plan could shrink the total number of grants given, it should also allow the organization to have more influence in certain areas.

With more than 1,300 U.S. branches and a Canadian parent company, TD Bank hardly qualifies as a community bank. But the institution is trying to underscore its local-bank bona fides with marketing campaigns touting its support of neighborhood causes.

A growing number of banks employ chief marketing officers who manage multimillion-dollar budgets and are involved in high-level corporate decision-making. The pressure's on to come up with creative ways to differentiate their brands and connect with customers.

Aside from shoestring budgets, the biggest problem for many community banks is that their marketing programs have gone stale, experts say. For too many, marketing remains bounded by three time-worn pillars: advertising, direct mail and public relations.

An obscure provision in the regulatory relief bill championed by Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., is giving mutual holding companies hope that a threat to their business model will be eliminated.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — NCUA's Temporary Corporate Credit Union Stabilization Fund continues to improve, and if the current trend holds, credit unions can expect a nice payout — but not for another six years.

Triumph Bancshares in Memphis says it has been mistakenly contacted by customers of Triumph Bancorp in Dallas, and has concluded that the Triumph moniker isn't big enough for both institutions. It's hoping a lawsuit will force the Texas bank to change its name.

NCUA officials still have several more months of work ahead of them before they unveil a comprehensive overhaul of their Field of Membership rules, but the agency completed a kind of trial run Thursday, approving a much narrower amendment to the rules governing associational common bonds.