CrossFirst Bank in Leawood, Kan., has agreed to acquire substantially all of the assets and deposits of Mercantile Bancorp's $110 million-asset Heartland Bank.

In the Federal Reserve Board's most recent survey of loan officers, bankers have a host of concerns keeping them away from originating loans held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

BALTIMORE — Two large merchants at Nacha's Payments 2012 conference expressed decidedly negative views on the card networks' approach to the EMV secure chip-card standard in the U.S.

Fulton Financial in Lancaster, Pa., is planning to open six new branches in 2012 and will renovate five others as part of a broader effort to make its branches more inviting and free up staff to better interact with customers.

First Financial in Cincinnati instituted a full pay-out of earnings in August. Although investors were happy with the move, the company has been swarmed with questions over how long it plans to keep the payout. Last week, the company committed to it until the end of 2013.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Monday it has hired a new assistant director for its Office of Minority and Women Inclusion, which will work with other regulators to assess diversity policies and practices at banks and nonbanks.

Just days after announcing a major expansion in mortgage lending, Sun Bancorp (SNBC) in Vineland, N.J., said that it is beefing up its commercial lending team as well.

HSBC, BB&T, Bank of America and Regions are experimenting with new ways to attract small-business borrowers, but each bank's strategy builds on something it did well already.

PVF Capital (PVFC) posted its first profitable quarter in four years as the Solon, Ohio, company benefited from a surge in mortgage lending activity and continued improvement in asset quality.

Capitol Federal Financial (CFFN) of Topeka, Kan., reported second-quarter income of $19.3 million, up more than 23% from a year earlier, as it lowered its total interest expenses.

State Bank Financial in Atlanta reported strong loan growth and lower expenses in the first quarter, but its overall profit fell 38% from the same period last year due what it describes as the "inherent volatility" related to the accounting of failed-bank acquisitions.

The CFPB's mission is to protect consumers from financial harm.

Mergers and acquisitions enjoyed a notable uptick in the first quarter. Now financial dealmakers are hotly debating whether it's a one-quarter wonder or the beginning of a much-heralded consolidation.

Armed with fresh capital from its new ownership group, Crescent Financial Bankshares in Raleigh, N.C., has reported its first profitable quarter in two years and said it has won approval from regulators to resume divided payments on both trust-preferred securities and shares issued to the Treasury Department under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Hawaii State FCU announced this morning the hiring of Andrew Rosen, an experienced banker on the mainland, as president and CEO of the $1.3 billion credit union.

Making more bad loans is the tuition price for learning how to build and train new underwriting algorithms.

There's a sizable, growing community of people who'd be receptive to the notion that you can get needed services without having to support the companies that have inflicted so much damage on the economy and the country.

WASHINGTON — On the heaviest night of bank closures this year, regulators across four states shuttered a total of five institutions, bringing the year’s failure total to 22 and costing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. more than $270 million.

Pay for bank CEOs increased a median 16% in 2011 among a group of 160 banks. Growth was particularly brisk at institutions with less than $20 billion of assets, where CEO compensation measured 2% of total payroll expenses, a far higher level than at larger banks.