Top-performing community banks have found different ways to provide double-digit returns, despite numerous challenges facing the banking industry.

Looking past standard gauges of return on equity and return on assets, bank investors have wide opinions on what makes a bank a high-performing institution relative to peers.

A number of this year's top-performing banks have been able to ride the highs and lows of the economic cycle to still produce long-term returns to investors.

What makes for a high-performing bank? We take an in-depth look at what drove profitability for the institutions at the top of our annual rankings, all of which are based on three-year average returns on equity. See the list of banks and thrifts with under $2 billion in assets or the mid-tiers with $2 billion to $10 billion of assets. Stay tuned as those with $10 billion to $50 billion of assets are still to come.

Rates are low and compliance costs are rising. But banks with $2 billion or less in assets still have momentum in several key areas, based on data compiled by Capital Performance Group.

The Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation closed the $90 million-asset Edgebrook Bank in Chicago on Friday.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Justice are taking a renewed interest in redlining, the practice of lenders charging more for products or excluding altogether minorities within certain geographic areas — and their findings may be surprising.

Todd Barnhart, head of retail banking at PNC Financial Services Group, discusses the conversion of branches to emphasize digital banking and why it's good to teach consumers to better manage their own accounts, even at the expense of fee revenue in the short term.

CertusBank's chief executive, who joined the Greenville, S.C., company after its founders were fired last year, has left his post due to a medical issue.

Visa, the world's largest payments network, is in preliminary talks to buy former subsidiary Visa Europe Ltd. in a deal that may be valued at as much as $20 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Trading of securities backed by Fannie, Freddie and Ginnie is down sharply since the beginning of the year. Bankers' concerns about capital and rates are among the reasons, and the problem may ultimately make the underlying market for mortgages less liquid.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including how convenience may help banks beat out Silicon Valley and whether community banks can reduce their regulatory burden on their own.

Investors have varied expectations of how banks should build and deploy capital. Ultimately, management teams need to stick to their growth plans rather than serve the whims of specific shareholders.

Consumers increased their borrowing in March by the largest amount in nearly a year as borrowing on credit cards rebounded after two months of declines.

Debt-buying giant Encore Capital Group reports first-quarter gains, including in portfolio purchasing and recoveries.

Prosper is already offering loans at doctor's offices while Lending Club is testing a device that would allow it to make loans on the spot at car dealerships and other retailers. The efforts highlight the need for marketplace lenders to keep innovating as competition for customers intensifies.

Baylake Corp. in Sturgeon Bay, Wis., has agreed to buy New Bancshares in Kewaunee, Wis.

A dysfunctional culture can harm banks' long-term viability and share value growth. Luckily, these problems can be fixed by encouraging team accountability, empowering employees to make decisions, and showing appreciation for staffers.

Bank of America pops up in Friday's news for several reasons, including an article revealing the bank and JPMorgan Chase agreed to scrape debts discharged in bankruptcy from consumers' credit reports within the next three months. The move comes in response to a set of lawsuits.

Hanmi Financial in Los Angeles is planning to close four branches.