Florida

A Florida politician who has run a pro-medical marijuana campaign said Wells Fargo closed her account over her ties to the industry, adding that the incident was an example of the challenges legal cannabis businesses face from the U.S. financial system.

Legacy tech vendors have traditionally offered decadelong contracts. But given constant change in the industry, small banks today should push for three-year deals, a bank CEO says.

The transaction was set up to give Mercantil more autonomy to expand in South Florida, Houston and New York.

Customers Bancorp said Flagship Community Bank has temporarily withdrawn its application with the FDIC to acquire the digital bank.

JetStream FCU’s Jeanne Kucey says her greatest goal as NAFCU board chair is regulatory relief for credit unions, and she'll do whatever she can to achieve that in the year ahead.

The credit union plans to retain all employees of Oculina Bank, whose CEO says the merger will allow Oculina branches to provide more products and services.

The $1.1 billion credit union is set to acquire the $350 million Oculina Bank, subject to regulatory approval.

The creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was widely expected to centralize regulation of payday and other high-cost loans in Washington. It hasn’t worked out that way.

Florida created headaches for the Georgia company during the financial crisis. Increased discipline, and wholesale changes to banking, make the $3 billion purchase of FCB Financial less risky, CEO Kessel Stelling says.

The Mississippi company will also gain its first branches in southern Georgia as part of the $80 million deal.