Sterling Bancshares in Poplar Bluff, Mo., has completed its purchase of Bootheel Bancorp in Poplar Bluff.

Community bank executives need to focus on these three areas in order to embrace change and cater to younger, tech-savvy customers.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and our social media platforms.

WASHINGTON — State regulators and House lawmakers warned the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau not to preempt state laws when the agency issues its proposal to regulate payday-type loans.

Capital Payments LLC, an Independent Sales Organization (ISO), has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it allowed a telemarketing scheme called The Tax Club to use merchant accounts to process consumers’ credit card payments.

TransUnion has acquired a 71% ownership interest in CIFIN (Central de Informacion Financiera), one of two primary credit bureaus in Colombia, for approximately $127 million.

Bank of Missouri knew that using new technology was important in making its business processes more efficient. But its IT team also knew that it had to get buy-in from the employees actually completing the steps as well to see real results.

Bank of Prairie Village in Kansas went through a core conversion last year. Its chairman hopes that his sons, who are set to take over the bank eventually, won't be afraid to embrace new technology since they've experienced the scariest of all bank IT projects.

The Federal Housing Administration will continue to charge borrowers an annual premium over the entire life of the loan, rejecting calls from some housing advocates to change how it’s calculated.

Banks' in-house venture funds tend to favor mature fintech companies, but BBVA's establishment of an outside fund should help the bank get in on the ground floor with early-stage companies.

Banks stocks fell further than the overall market yet again Thursday, as concerns about negative interest rates, the energy sector and other matters showed no signs of abating.

The Detroit company is plowing ahead with its growth strategy at a time when some shareholders are agitating over its sagging share price.

Fifth Third Bancorp in Cincinnati said Thursday that it will spend $27.5 billion over the next five years to provide loans and other financial services to underserved communities in its region.

Inspired by marketplace lenders, Live Oak Bancshares created a largely digital product that can make a credit decision on a small-business loan within 48 hours. The product, which combines human decision-making and automated credit scoring, could go national as early as next year.

Bank of Botetourt in Buchanan, Va., founded in 1899, said Thursday it has opened a mortgage division to pursue unmet demand for home loans in southwestern Virginia.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's decision to exclude captive insurance companies from Federal Home Loan Bank membership makes the FHLB system like a private country club.

U.S. Bancorp has hired John Steward as president of its retail payments solutions division.

Disruption in credit scoring is healthy, but the new models touted by marketplace and other alternative lenders are still untested, especially about how loans will perform in a downturn.

Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $3.2 billion to end a joint federal-state investigation into its handling of mortgage-backed securities, the fourth deal to be struck in a probe of the big U.S. banks' role in the subprime mortgage meltdown and the financial crisis it spawned.

The Madrid-based bank announced Thursday that it will invest $250 million in Propel Venture Partners.