The San Francisco bank has added three more young technology firms to its accelerator program, which is aimed at adapting products from outside the financial services world for creative uses in banking.

First Midwest Bank in Itasca, Ill., increased profits in the first quarter thanks to higher lending income, but fell short of heightened expectations set after two major acquisitions last year.

A division of the payments firm ACI Worldwide will pay $185,000 to California authorities to resolve allegations that it violated numerous state licensing requirements.

The middle-market lending community is watching closely General Electric's announced plan to sell GE Capital, the largest lender in the space and the winner of Mergers & Acquisitions' 2014 M&A Mid-Market Award for Lender of the Year.

South State in Columbia, S.C., has agreed to buy 13 Bank of America branches in South Carolina and Georgia.

United Community Banks in Blairsville, Ga., has agreed to buy Palmetto Bancshares in Greenville, S.C.

Pinnacle Financial Partners in Nashville, Tenn., reported higher first-quarter profit on strong lending results.

Fulton Financial in Lancaster, Pa., reported lower first-quarter profit on a decline in net interest income and higher expenses.

A breakdown of M&A announcements in the financial services industry for the week ended April 18.

S&T Bancorp in Indiana, Pa., reported better-than-expected earnings in the first quarter as income from loans it inherited in its acquisition of Integrity Bancshares helped to offset higher merger-related expenses.

The Georgia company has been cutting costs, while reinvesting funds in new businesses and technology. While the moves are doing little to increase near-term return on assets, they could help Synovus improve its longer-term performance.

MB Financial's first-quarter profit rose nearly 71% from the same period last year, but lower-than-expected loan growth and expenses related to its acquisition of Taylor Capital late last year caused it to miss earnings-per-share projections.

The first quarter was another banner one for Signature Bank in New York, which reported record net income of $83.4 million, topping its 2014 first-quarter results by 26%.

Rabobank in Roseville, Calif., has agreed to sell a branch in California to Plumas Bancorp in Quincy, Calif.

General Electric Co. is in talks to sell its biggest lending operation, a $74 billion unit that provides loans to midsize U.S. businesses, Dow Jones reported citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.

A pair of senior banking analysts has left Sterne Agee to join Piper Jaffray. Mathew Kelley and Matthew Breese will oversee Piper Jaffray's equity research for depository institutions in the Northeast.

As branch transactions continue to decline, banks are increasingly requiring expertise in an area they paid less attention to in the past: digital design. BBVA and Capital One's recent purchases of user-experience and design firms underscore the increasingly important trend.

Chemical Financial has retooled its organizational structure as part of the Midland, Mich., company's succession planning.

Californians are entering the fourth year of drought, forcing bankers to seriously consider the long-term implications for farmers and other industries. In some instances, banks are reviewing and changing underwriting practices to address risk.

CenterState Banks in Davenport, Fla., has agreed to buy a branch from the parent of SouthBank in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.