The dark secret about credit unions is that while rules have changed to allow them to make more commercial loans, their ability to underwrite those loans at scale is lacking. When the credit cycle turns, there's going to be a reckoning.

Some of the challenges Bank of Guam faces are unique. But its search for vendors and local talent will feel familiar to community banks across the U.S.

Though it hasn't set a timeline, Oxford Bank, based north of the Motor City, is weighing a southward expansion that would add all the Detroit metropolitan area to its footprint.

A judge postponed to Aug. 19 the scheduled sentencing date for Shan Hanes, the ex-CEO of Heartland Tri-State Bank who admitted to embezzling $47 million from the lender, leading to its downfall.

Fortuna Bank in Columbus would be the third U.S. bank specifically formed to be women-owned, according to its organizers. Supporters say it's another win toward obtaining gender-equitable capital access.

On the heels of a recent downgrade by one analyst, the Uniondale, New York-based Flushing is being challenged by veteran investor Larry Seidman to consider a sale of the company.

The pace of deal activity in 2024 is ahead of a year earlier, thanks in large part to summer momentum and a spate of all-stock deals. But an early August market rout created a new hurdle for dealmaking in the second half of the year.

In short, if the early days of BaaS were driven by market opportunity, the coming days of BaaS will be driven by the operational apparatus and software to acquire and manage that opportunity.

Banks are testing the waters on paying depositors lower interest rates, and analysts expect they're due for a bigger breather when the Fed takes action. It's a welcome shift for banks, after competition for deposits forced them to pay up.

The stock swoon of early August, however, raises red flags and could delay an anticipated rise in loan demand for banks in need of stronger interest income, analysts caution.