Growth strategies

Riverside Health System Employees Credit Union has announced plans to merge into the Yorktown-based credit union, which is roughly 100 times its size.

The company will pay $20 million in cash for a bank with two branches and $58 million of loans.

Noninterest income has bolstered profits this year. But its growth is expected to slow over the next two years, making for a gloomy earnings outlook unless vaccine distributions and the economic recovery are relatively swift.

First Technology FCU, led by a former banker, stands ready to raise fresh capital by issuing subordinated debt. But first it must wait for a rule change from the National Credit Union Administration that's drawing fierce opposition from the banking industry.

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

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

First Kansas, part of the multibank holding company Ottawa Bancshares, expects to complete the acquisition early next year.

The company hired two Atlantic Union bankers to run its bank and begin recruiting customers in and around Washington.

Acquirers shelved plans to buy banks this year as the coronavirus became widespread, but a combination of factors could spur the confidence to restart those conversations in the months ahead.