On Mar. 31, 2021. Dollars in thousands.

On Mar. 31, 2021. Dollars in thousands.

First Midwest Bancorp in Chicago and Old National Bancorp in Evansville, Indiana, agreed to an all-stock merger-of-equals that would create a $45 billion-asset Midwestern regional player.

The London-based banking giant announced a plan this week to exit the mass-market U.S. retail business and focus on managing the wealth of affluent globe-trotters. But other international banks will provide stiff competition.

Nearly a quarter of Black business owners seeking Paycheck Protection Program loans last year applied to fintechs — not far behind the percentage that turned to community banks, according to a New York Fed study. Deepening those new relationships could be a major source of growth for online lenders.

Acquiring the U.K. bank’s East Coast branches and online-only bank is “great for our balance sheet, great for our physical footprint” and will accelerate the growth of Citizens’ own direct bank, says Chief Executive Bruce Van Saun.

The seemingly expensive acquisition of Aquesta Financial Holdings is the cost of expanding in North Carolina's largest city.

Huntingdon Valley Bank in Pennsylvania and First Savings Bank in Indiana are among the banks extending their relationships with software providers to make small-business lending more efficient after the Paycheck Protection Program is phased out.

The Indiana company is buying 14 branches that Huntington Bancshares is divesting as a condition of its deal to buy TCF Financial.

The fintech's investors include the actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Orlando Bloom and Robert Downey Jr.

Cypress Trust in Palm Beach is poised to pull off a rarity: the conversion of a wealth management firm into a community bank. It’s simply another way to take advantage of the ongoing melding of the two financial services sectors, CEO Dana Kilborne says.

Under a plan signed into law in March, the agency will first target direct loans that it has made to socially disadvantaged farmers. Guidance that will affect small banks that have made government-backed agricultural loans is due in 120 days.

The pandemic was certainly a factor, but the Mississippi company says its decision to concentrate interactive teller machines in drive-through lanes and retrain employees who appear on-screen made a big — and potentially lasting — difference.

The National Credit Union Administration changed course late last year and proposed changes that would in effect give members more time to resolve overdrafts. However, consumer activists and even some credit unions say the proposal falls short.

Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown told acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu that the cryptocurrency firms approved to operate national trusts under prior agency leadership “seek access to the benefits of a bank charter” without meeting certain regulatory standards.

The Massachusetts bank, which traditionally In contrast to its typical strategy of supporting low-income housing, the invested $500,000 in CEI Ventures’ Coastal Ventures V fund to support small businesses in disadvantaged communities.

How digital capabilities are supporting small business operations amid disruption

The target is among the top-performing banks in Utah and the only bank in a five-state region with assets between $3 billion and $10 billion.

Peeyush Nahar, who also spent 14 years at Amazon, brings both Big Tech and startup experience to a consumer-banking unit that has lost several senior leaders in recent months and faces challenges common to entrepreneurial divisions within large organizations.

Instead of injecting cash into Commonwealth National Bank, Regions Bank is taking a more targeted approach: providing funding for the community development financial institution to hire a commercial banker.