Pennsylvania

Northwest Bancshares (NWBI) in Warren, Pa., has launched a service to help customers track royalties earned on gas and oil leases.

Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania (RBPAA) in Narberth recorded a second-quarter loss that it attributed to the cost of settling two long-standing legal issues.

Bryn Mawr Bank (BMTC) in Pennsylvania and MidCoast Community Bancorp in Wilmington, Del., have terminated plans to merge.

Customers Bancorp (CUBI) in Wyomissing, Pa., has opened a loan production office in North Philadelphia with the goal of providing affordable loans to lower-income minority communities.

Fox Chase Bancorp (FXCB) in Hatboro, Pa., wants to discard its federal thrift charter.

Republic First Bancorp (FRBK) will allow customers to access funds at Allpoint Network ATMs without paying service fees.

More fee income and a better credit picture propelled Susquehanna Bancshares (SUSQ) in Lititz, Pa., in the second quarter.

New executives are effecting an IT reawakening at Orrstown Bank to prepare it for growth. Projects being tackled include: enlarging the IT team, outsourcing the core, replacing the email system and redoing the digital channels.

The $17 billion-asset company's second-quarter earnings rose 2% from a year earlier, to $40.6 million. Per-share earnings of 21 cents beat the estimates of analysts polled by Bloomberg by 2 cents.

Lending surged at Customers Bancorp in Wyomissing, Pa., this spring, allowing the $3.8 billion-asset company to report profits of $8.2 million in the second quarter, up 26% from the same period in 2012.

F.N.B. Corp. (FNB) in Hermitage, Pa., is establishing a regional headquarters in downtown Cleveland.

A larger-than-usual number of small banks, rising valuations for would-be acquirers, and lingering industry challenges are increasing the odds of deals in the Pennsylvania.

The $3.5 billion asset company will invest in Religare Enterprises, an Indian firm that is applying for a banking license in India, Customers said Thursday. It will spread the investment out over the next 18 months.

Republic First may try to revive its 2008 deal to sell itself to Metro Bancorp. That effort died at the feet of regulators but still makes sense in the eyes of some. Other banks are said to be asking similar questions about old deals.

F.N.B. Corp. in Hermitage, Pa., has agreed to buy BCSB Bancorp in Baltimore in a stock transaction valued at $79 million, or $23.77 a share. The acquisition is the company's third in less than eight months.

Fulton Financial (FULT) in Lancaster, Pa., announced that its longtime chief financial officer will retire at the end of this year.

Mars National Bank near Pittsburgh has drafted a local boy-turned-major-leaguer, Neil Walker of the Pirates, as its pitchman.

Republic First Bancorp (FRBK) in Philadelphia is continuing its push into southern New Jersey.

Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania (RBPAA) in Narberth, Pa., has hired a former executive at PNC Financial Services Group (PNC) to run its bank.

An activist investor group has threatened to file a lawsuit against Orrstown Financial Services (ORRF) unless the Shippensburg, Pa., company makes certain changes to its bylaws.