Varo Money might become the first challenger bank to get a national bank charter. CEO and co-founder Colin Walsh explains why he wants Varo to become a bank.

Alex Sanchez acknowledges that the U.S. has a lot of banks and many failed in the crisis, but he says a healthy economy needs a fresh supply of community lenders to nurture entrepreneurs.

On Dec. 31, 2018. Dollars in thousands.

On Dec. 31, 2018. Dollars in thousands.

Institutions that fail to embrace AI, machine learning and data analytics could quickly find themselves losing ground to competitors.

AI-driven customer insights, mortgages and small-business loans are among the features in the app, which the bank is rolling out Friday.

The Alabama bank’s artificial intelligence system ROSIE pulls information from hundreds of data sources to help employees suggest the best new product or service to offer a customer. It’s a good example of a regional trying to balance competitive pressures and cost control.

University Bancorp gained a number of offices from Huron Valley Financial. It also hired lenders and staff with experience in reverse mortgages and wholesale lending.

Alongside identity-document scanning and other ID verification, the two companies are offering real-time checks of lists of suspicious persons. The goal: keep money launderers out of the banking system.

Susan Ehrlich, the fintech lender's new chief, discusses what she learned working at Amazon and Simple and how her firm is approaching consumer loans differently.

State law bars credit unions from accepting deposits from cities, counties and other government entities. Florida banks say it should stay that way unless tax advantages for credit unions are removed, but credit unions counter that banks are trying to stifle competition.

Financial startups are becoming important partners for community banks and credit unions, despite lobbying efforts to limit their growth.

The most popular features of the AI-driven virtual assistant include transaction search and spending alerts.

J.D. Power found that customers who have a variety of accounts with an online-only bank are far more satisfied than those with just checking or savings accounts.

Simple math only partly explains why smaller lenders are adding commercial and industrial loans at a faster clip than their larger counterparts.

The changes will expand the role of the Consumer Advisory Board and other panels, but stopped short of reversing the downsizing ordered last year by former acting Director Mick Mulvaney.

Trying to keep pace with big banks that digitize as many processes as possible will undercut community banks’ strengths, according to speakers at this year’s ICBA convention.

Paul, one of American Banker's Community Bankers of the Year in 2012, made Eagle a formidable Washington-area institution.

Big banks’ edge lies in their sizable presence in faster-growing cities, not any unfair structural or regulatory advantages, according to a new report by the Bank Policy Institute, which represents large financial services companies. Community banks beg to differ.

First Bank is removing a competitor by agreeing to acquire Grand Bank for $19 million.