MIDWEST

With demand for loans surging and investment capital from large banks drying up, community development financial institutions are caught in cash crunch.

Advancements in technology have made online account opening and funding affordable for any financial institution. However, if it is to generate maximum return on investment, the new offering has to be marketed correctly.

The capital-strapped Amcore Financial Inc. of Rockford, Ill., announced Wednesday that it has agreed to sell two of its Wisconsin branches to First National Bank and Trust Co., in Beloit, Wis.

The National Credit Union Administration on Wednesday closed Community One FCU, Nevada's eighth-largest credit union.

Guaranty Financial Group Inc. is the talk of Texas this week. With the $14.4 billion-asset Austin company warning of its imminent failure, speculation has abounded about who will make the winning bid on its lucrative branches and deposits.

Golden 1 Credit Union has agreed to use Fiserv Inc.'s consumer remote deposit capture service, the Brookfield, Wis., vendor said Wednesday.

First Federal Bankshares Inc. in Sioux City, Iowa, is running out of time to raise capital, and now it also needs to find a chief executive.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp., better known as Farmer Mac, reported that its second-quarter earnings climbed 18% on sharply higher net investment gains.

Central Virginia Bankshares in Powhatan said Tuesday that it swung to a loss of $255,943 in the second quarter, from a $909,577 profit the year earlier.

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CapGen Financial Partners, a private-equity firm founded by former Comptroller of the Currency Eugene Ludwig, has signed a letter of intent to invest up to $15 million in Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida.

For years banks from other states have been eager to enter Texas. Now at least a handful of them are weighing branch sales there. It's not that these sellers have soured on the Lone Star State, which continues to hold up relatively well despite the recession. It's just that they need capital.

MULBERRY, Fla. – Magnify CU, known until recently as Community First CU, will add to its branches with the opening of a new green facility in south Lakeland.

STATE COLLEGE, Penn. – Penn State FCU celebrated the grand opening of its third branch Monday.

BRILLION, Wis. – Best Advantage CU has moved into a new headquarters.

INDIANAPOLIS – Credit Union Center, in partnership with CO-OP Shared Branching, is now offering CO-OP Mobile to its member credit unions.

Losses at U.S. Central Federal Credit Union, which was seized by regulators in March, continue to trickle down to other credit unions.

Columbia Bancorp's net loss widened more than threefold from the previous period to $23.3 million in the second quarter as its credit provision jumped almost 50%, to $14.4 million and it took a $7.2 million charge against deferred tax assets.

The Bancorp said Monday that it has launched an offering of $50 million of common stock.