The latest monthly Trends Report from CUNA Mutual Group showed October's year-over-year membership growth rate was the slowest since the fall of 2014.

The agency’s second in-depth study of the community banking sector pointed to continued challenges for local institutions from the pandemic and other headwinds, but many smaller banks are reaping the benefits of M&A and holding their own against larger competitors in key lending categories.

Bansley & Kiener, without admitting wrongdoing, agreed to pay $2.5 million to address allegations that lax oversight contributed to the 2017 collapse of Washington Federal Bank for Savings.

It isn't lost on Fiserv that consumers increasingly are moving to digital financial services. Its deal to acquire Ondot Systems, a digital card solutions platform, aims to capitalize on the shift.

The company agreed will pay nearly $10 million for Sunset parent Waukesha Bankshares.

Two large deals happened this week in Australia to build scale against international financial services encroachment from card schemes and cross-border financial services — a concern that's cropping up in several nations.

A new report from McKinsey says that cost-cutting alone won’t make up for the steep revenue declines brought on by low interest rates and sluggish loan demand. “For some banks,” argues the report’s author, “mergers might be the best way out.”

In a move designed to help small businesses to establish online and offline sales, web platform provider GoDaddy has agreed to acquire Poynt payments services.

Columbus Metro Federal Credit Union members will have access to more products, including commercial loan services, and 14 branches with the merger.

Cardtronics has benefited from a wave of branch closings during the pandemic by partnering with lenders looking to offer their customers access to cash even when a full-scale branch isn’t available.

Wells Fargo, reeling from years of scandals, is unloading several businesses as it seeks to simplify its structure. The sale of the asset management unit could fetch more than $3 billion, according to industry sources.

The accelerating pace of branch closures is partly due to industry consolidation, according to the community reinvestment group that authored the new report.

The Columbus, Ohio, company says it has delivered on M&A promises before, and many observers say its deal for rival TCF Financial is an opportunistic move in its bid to build a Midwestern powerhouse. But others questioned whether Huntington's cost-cutting and profit expectations are too optimistic.

The Amarillo company is buying First National Bank of Tahoka, continuing the industry’s consolidation in the state.

The $62.7 million merger of Linkbancorp and Gratz Bank would create a company with over $800 million of assets and nine branches stretching from Harrisburg to the Philadelphia suburbs.

A group that includes the private equity firms Apollo Global Management and Blackstone Group is in talks to acquire Wells Fargo’s student loan portfolio, according to people familiar with the matter.

The deal would create a $168 billion banking company in the Midwest and be the latest in a string of regional bank combinations.

The Boston-based firm has been informally working with an adviser to review strategic alternatives for State Street Global Advisors, including a merger with a competitor, people familiar with the matter said.

The incoming Biden administration must take steps to block mergers that could create monopolies, such as Visa's pending acquisition of a competitor.

FleetCor Technologies, whose peers with fleet-card roots include WEX and U.S. Bank Voyager, has been on an M&A streak that netted several B2B payments specialists in areas that take FleetCor in new directions, as rivals also diversify.