After Democrats failed last year to rally support for a federal 36% limit, House and Senate proponents are trying to capitalize on the momentum from state rate caps that recently passed on a bipartisan basis.

Locality Bank in Fort Lauderdale and Gulf Coast Business Bank in Fort Myers would be the seventh and eighth banks to open in Florida since 2017 — the most of any state in that span. Organizers relish the chance to start from scratch, but some observers lament the drop-off in de novos from the pre-crisis era.

Buying Spirit of Texas would give the Arkansas company access to the Austin, San Antonio and Houston markets and make it a bigger player in the fast-growing south-central U.S.

N26 and Monzo halted or delayed expansion plans here largely because competition for customers was already intense and obtaining a banking license proved difficult.

Recruiting from competitors can be hard to pull off, and it won't create more equity in the industry. Some of the Best Banks to Work For are finding ways to develop, support and promote women who are already on the payroll.

The National Credit Union Administration backed off measures that would have let credit unions sign up members in areas where they have ATMs and online services, but no branches. The move was seen as a partial victory for banks, though the matter could ultimately be decided by Congress.

Regulators are requiring an operational overhaul at The Federal Savings Bank. Its former CEO Stephen Calk, who sought a job in the Trump administration, was convicted in connection with loans the bank made to onetime Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort.

Wilson created an app from scratch in the middle of a large merger, he's setting up “client journey rooms” where customers co-create technology with technologists, and he's moving the bank forward into cloud computing.

The digital-only bank, which entered the U.S. about two years ago, said Thursday that it is closing roughly 500,000 customer accounts here and will prioritize growth in Eastern Europe.

Adelphi Bank in Columbus, Ohio, would be just the nation’s fourth depository with a predominantly African American board of directors. “The hope is that we change lives,” said Jordan Miller Jr., who would serve as president and CEO.

No matter the outcome of the confirmation battle over Saule Omarova — the Biden administration nominee for comptroller of the currency whom many bankers view as too liberal — policymakers must still resolve this fundamental question: Are banks public utilities or private companies with special privileges?

Acquiring the company, which has a namesake savings app, would allow the Silicon Valley lender to accelerate its plan to offer more consumer banking services. The deal comes less than six weeks after Oportun withdrew its application for a bank charter, which it plans to refile.

Americans are looking for immediate ways to offset rising costs, rather than saving points for future travel. Cash rewards, which were already growing in popularity, are now even more coveted.

Lincoln Parks at Heritage Bank in Georgia built from scratch its social media following, a digital-only way to open accounts and (in 48 hours) a Paycheck Protection Program lending system. For these and other efforts, Parks is a runner-up for American Banker’s Digital Banker of the Year.

Now that dispersed workforces are expected to be the long-term norm, banks are taking steps to maintain a sense of teamwork and giving managers new training in troubleshooting.

Patriot National Bancorp was exploring a digital pivot, and American Challenger Development Corp. had been seeking a bank charter in its quest to become open an all-digital bank. They decided it was quicker to join forces.