After years of experimentation, some banks are finding the right mix of technology, ambiance and human interaction. The most effective formula varies, and the only constant is that there are no absolutes.

For the first time in its history, Virginia Community Bank in Louisa has a CEO whose name is not A. Pierce Stone.

For the first time in its history, Virginia Community Bank in Louisa has a CEO whose name is not A. Pierce Stone.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Inc. and Legacy Bancorp Inc., both of Pittsfield, Mass., have agreed to sell off four overlapping branches as a condition of their merger.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Inc. and Legacy Bancorp Inc., both of Pittsfield, Mass., have agreed to sell off four overlapping branches as a condition of their merger.

Aiming to beef up its wealth management business, Provident Bank in Jersey City has struck a deal to acquire Beacon Financial Corp. of Morristown, N.J., for up to $10.5 million in cash.

Aiming to beef up its wealth management business, Provident Bank in Jersey City has struck a deal to acquire Beacon Financial Corp. of Morristown, N.J., for up to $10.5 million in cash.

The National Credit Union Administration has liquidated the Hmong American Federal Credit Union in St. Paul, Minn. The agency said Thursday that it made the move to discontinue the $2.7 million-asset credit union's operations after determining that Hmong was insolvent.

UMB Financial Corp. in Kansas City, Mo., said late Wednesday that it would pay $7.8 million to settle a lawsuit over overdraft fees.

Enterprise Financial Services Corp. in St. Louis said Wednesday that it will raise $28.6 million with a public offering.

Atlantic Coast Capital Corp. in Jacksonville, Fla., said Wednesday that G. Thomas Frankland is now officially its president and chief executive.

In the last year, Michael Brown Sr. raised nearly $330 million, bought a small Florida bank, converted it to a thrift, struck a deal for a weaker competitor, bought a branch from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. — and turned 70 years old. The chairman and chief executive officer of HCBF Holding Co. in Palm City says he's just getting started.

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson's office on Thursday sued collection industry giant Encore Capital Group Inc. for allegedly using fraudulent "robo-signed" affidavits in collection cases.

NCO Group Inc., a debt buyer and global provider of business process outsourcing (BPO), announced Thursday the acquisition of Protocol Global Solutions Inc., a company that specializes in contact center services for the health care, energy, government and insurance markets.

Atlantic Coast Financial Corp. in Jacksonville, Fla. said Wednesday that G. Thomas Frankland is now officially its president and chief executive officer. Frankland had been the interim president and CEO since October.

First Bancshares in Hattiesburg, Miss., is buying seven Whitney National Bank branches in a deal that would more than double its branch network along the Gulf Coast and move it into a new market in Louisiana.

The $13.5 billion-asset company said this week that it will shutter nine branches in Arkansas, eight in Mississippi — including two in its headquarters city — three in Tennessee, and one each in Texas, Alabama and Missouri.

Patriot National Bancorp Inc. saw its losses widen in the first quarter, but asset quality improved substantially as the Stamford, Conn., company continued shed problem loans.

Two weeks after First Niagara Financial Group in Buffalo announced it is adding hundreds of jobs in western New York, the chief executive M&T Bank Corp. said his company expects to create 133 new jobs in Buffalo as a result of its acquisition of Wilmington Trust Corp. in Delaware.

Hit hard by defaults on construction loans, Old Second National Bank in Aurora, Ill., has agreed to an enforcement order with its regulator that requires it to boost a key capital ratio by the end of the third quarter.