Citizens Bank's Bruce Van Saun is our Banker of the Year; shake-up continues at Wells Fargo with poaching of Santander's CEO; the Navy commander behind the credit union banks love to hate; and more from this week's most-read stories.

The $28 million-asset AB&W Employees Credit Union will merge following a year of uneven financial results.

The company will pay $122 million for six branches and nearly $1 billion in assets.

The year 2019 kicked off with a series of mutli-billion-dollar mergers and acquisitions designed to shake up the dynamics of the payments industry. While this was taking place, Elavon had its own plan for extending its influence through M&A.

The Albany-based credit union has picked up tiny City of Schenectady Employees FCU, which has struggled with profitability issues for years.

In some cases bankers' willingness to close branches and cut staff is a testament to their company's strength.

The regulator says the bank needs to address employee complaints and pay controls; the presidential hopeful would make it more difficult for banks to combine.

In search of new sources of revenue now that it has slashed fees on stock trades, the brokerage giant could use the influx of deposits it will get from acquiring its rival to grow its loan portfolio and add new banking services.

Christopher Maher, who has announced seven bank deals since 2015, says a stable rate outlook will help buyers and sellers crunch merger numbers.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren introduced a bill to require CFPB approval for certain bank merger applications in the wake of regulators' approval of a deal between BB&T and SunTrust.

The industry's dominant growth strategy of 2019 was a hot topic during a House Financial Services Committee hearing.

Apollo Bank's agreement to be sold to a credit union has bankers worried there will be larger such sales in 2020.

Apollo Bank's agreement to be sold to a credit union has bankers worried there will be larger such sales in 2020.

Concerns over surviving another recession coupled with issues such as keeping up with technology could cause more credit unions to find partners.

The company will enter three counties in its home state after it buys Roselle.

The company agreed to pay $41 million for Victory Community Bank.

Concerns over surviving another recession coupled with issues such as keeping up with technology could cause more credit unions to find partners.

Once struggling to remain relevant, the Providence, R.I., bank is now an industry standout. Inside the story of its resurgence.

USAA won $200M from Wells Fargo in patent fight — will others be on the hook?; three takeaways from regulators' approval of the BB&T-SunTrust merger; don't believe the doom and gloom on Fannie, Freddie; and more from this week's most-read stories.

With only 17 million users, compared to PayPal’s 300 million, Honey seems minuscule. But this is PayPal's largest acquisition ever by price, and it far eclipses the $800 million PayPal spent in 2013 for Braintree, which owned Venmo.