New Jersey

State student loan authorities sense a business opportunity helping graduates who are gainfully employed lower their payments. Their low-cost funding could put them in competition with banks and marketplace lenders.

Highlands Bancorp in Vernon, N.J., has raised $7.5 million to exit the Small Business Lending Fund.

John Garbarino will step aside as chairman of the $4.2 billion-asset company on Dec. 31, but he will turn over the job to a familiar face — Christopher Maher, who will remain president and chief executive, also.

Banks have rushed to the exits when it comes to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debt securities. Federal liquidity rules seem to be prompting big banks to do so, but why small banks are unloading the bonds, too, is more of a puzzler.

Valley National Bank in Wayne, N.J., has appointed former PNC executive Robert Bardusch to be its chief information officer.

Shore Community Bank in Toms River, N.J., has called on some old friends to lead the board of directors.

TD Bank announced Thursday that it is doing away with the Penny Arcade coin-counting machines that are stationed in more than 1,000 of its branches along the East Coast.

Short Hills, New Jersey, is among the richest communities in the U.S. The directors of a local savings and loan get paid accordingly.

Investors Bancorp in Short Hills, N.J., has agreed to buy Bank of Princeton in Princeton, N.J.

Paragon Commercial Bank, Unity Bancorp and Nicolet Bankshares have found success by radically rethinking their strategies.

M&T is squeezing savings out of its newly purchased Hudson City Bancorp after fighting long and hard for regulatory approval. But it's also taking steps to keep Hudson City's customers from leaving, like offering higher rates on CDs in the New Jersey area.

Noah Bank in in Elkins Park, Pa., has sued NOA Bank in Duluth, Ga., in a dispute between two Korean-American banks over trademarks and competitive intelligence.

Bancorp of New Jersey in Fort Lee has hired a former state regulator as its new chief executive.

Clifton Bancorp in Clifton, N.J., said Friday that it has hired the former chief executive of a nearby rival as chief operating officer.

ConnectOne Bancorp in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., has exited the Small Business Lending Fund program.

Hackers penetrated the computer network of a Verizon Communications subsidiary, but the company says it plugged the hole before much data was compromised.

Lincoln Park Savings Bank in New Jersey is now Lincoln 1st Bank.

Unity Bancorp in Clinton, N.J., has bought its corporate headquarters building for $4.12 million.

Michael Lesler resigned as CEO and president of the $803 million-asset company, it said Thursday.

It may not quite live up to his Oscar-nominated role in "The Buddy Holly Story," but Gary Busey certainly made an impression on Jim Hughes in a new television ad for Unity Bank.