Florida

Users cite ease of use, ability to offer advanced products, services.

The Alabama company will enter Sarasota, Fla., after buying Premier for $52 million.

Gulfside Bank, which would be based in Sarasota, is angling to become southwest Florida's first new bank in a decade.

Organizers want to open the first new bank in Michigan since 2009, while a third group in Florida has filed a de novo application.

The League of Southeastern Credit Unions is working with legislators in both states to find ways to protect consumers from predatory lenders.

Chuck Adcock will take the helm in April, 24 years after he started at the credit union as a teller.

Achieva Credit Union, which recently formed a business to advise other acquisition-minded credit unions, has agreed to buy Preferred Community Bank.

San Diego-based CU is the first new owner of the CUSO in 2018.

A Swiss financier has agreed to buy Brickell Bank a year after another sale fell through.

The Florida company reported increased net income even though its loan pipelines and production were hurt by last year's storms.

The Florida company's fourth-quarter results included double-digit loan growth and a $328 million income tax benefit associated with recently passed tax reform.

The Arkansas company's earnings fell 52% from a year earlier, reflecting a higher provision, a revaluation of its deferred tax asset and higher costs following a series of bank acquisitions.

Endeavor Bank, which raised nearly $27 million, will become the second new bank to open in California in the past year when it debuts next week.

Ameris, which was operating under a regulatory order when it agreed to buy Atlantic Coast, agreed to pay more money if it failed to complete the acquisition by mid-2018.

The company expects to report a $15 million gain in the fourth quarter from the stock sales, which will more than offset any deferred-tax impairment tied to recently passed tax reform.

Banks that have flocked to the business because of higher yields and loan diversity stand to benefit if clients use tax savings to upgrade equipment.

Jose Vazquez Jr., who previously worked for Popular Community Bank, will oversee commercial lending and treasury management services.

Calling the move "depressing," Chairman Ken LaRoe said the decision to stop working with medical marijuana firms came after certain investors objected. Recent moves by the federal government cemented the call.

United will pay $130 million for NLFC Holdings, the parent company of Navitas Credit.

CSCU will continue as a separate, card-processing entity.