The Federal Reserve Board on Friday approved UMB Financial's pending $2 billion acquisition of Heartland Financial.

Texas Capital Bancshares promotes Aimee Williams-Ramey to chief human resources officer; M&T Bank hires Wells Fargo veteran Krista Phillips for newly created post of chief customer officer; Paul Connolly and Paul Speiss age out of their positions on Eastern Bankshares' board; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

Clearfield-based CNB Financial's planned acquisition of ESSA Bancorp in Stroudsburg would create an $8 billion-asset company with 49 branches and nearly $5 billion of deposits in the Keystone State.

The San Antonio-based insurer and bank has named Juan Andrade as its next CEO. The company's bank has suffered a series of regulatory penalties.

As the flames continued to spread, banks closed more branches while others donated to relief efforts.

The Bethesda, Maryland-based company called its success in luring a team from Capital One as its most "newsworthy" move to date executing a strategy aimed at diversifying its lending operation.

JPMorgan Chase, U.S. Bancorp and others shut some branches as wildfires tore through the suburbs of Los Angeles.

Heightened expectations for increased economic activity could boost loan demand after a soft 2024.

Banking relies far too much on human relationships and trust for it to hand over essential questions about perception and judgement to artificial intelligence. The need for human bankers will always exist.

A customer claims the Massachusetts bank fined her numerous times over a single botched purchase. The bank paid her back — but her class action lawsuit isn't going away.

Reading Cooperative's combination with Wakefield Cooperative, the third deal involving Boston-area banks announced in the past month, would create a $1.2 billion community bank.

The industry should save on interest expenses this year as it follows the Fed's lead in cutting rates. The downside is that the lower deposit rates signal fewer opportunities to make loans.

Florida-based Amerant Bancorp recently restructured its securities portfolio after selling its Houston branches.

Arrow Financial in Glens Falls kept busy in December, consolidating its two subsidiary banks, expanding its board and restructuring its securities portfolio.

The digital bank unit of SMBC Manubank keeps costs low with remote employees and all tech in the cloud, President John Rosenfeld says.

Lenders across the country promoted from within to fill top executive roles, including First International Bank & Trust in Watford City, North Dakota.

The Stamford, Connecticut-based bank hired Steven Sugarman to be its president. The former bank CEO, who now heads one of the country's largest mission-based lenders, will help drive an effort to close a capital gap.

The Honolulu-based utility sold a 90.1% stake in American Savings Bank. The deal valued the lender at $450 million.

The trend of credit unions buying banks is a lightning rod for controversy in the banking industry. Despite this, such mergers are increasingly common.

Banks are taking hits in the stock market as they use 2024 to restructure balance sheets and inflation slightly increased in November.