United Bankshares is in talks to acquire rival Washington-area lender Cardinal Financial, according to people familiar with the matter, as regional banks seek to pair up to counter low interest rates and mounting regulatory costs.

Net interest margins have only gotten tighter this year. Here is a look at the reasons why, how much some banks are hurting and what certain institutions are doing to relieve the pressure.

Like its peers, the San Francisco-based marketplace lender is struggling to manage the fallout of a sharp reversal in the interest of investors.

Needham Bank in Massachusetts is searching for a new chief executive just 14 months after its current leader took over.

Arch U.S. MI's acquisition of United Guaranty Corp. will make one of the smallest private mortgage insurers the sector's new market leader. While the move is likely to ease pricing competition among the six remaining players, it's not expected to set off a wave of further consolidation.

Some observers are concerned that borrowers in energy-dependent regions, in an effort to compensate for pay cuts, are becoming overleveraged. But lenders say they are being prudent.

Cloud-based core vendor Nymbus announced Monday it has completed a $12 million financing round.

Old Dominion National Bank in McLean, Va., has hired Stephanie Lykins-Harvey, formerly of Cardinal Bank in McLean, as director of retail banking.

Citigroup lost a big technology executive last week and hired another from JPMorgan Chase. Then word surfaced that JPMorgan had decided to replace that exec anyway and a successor was ready to go. It all shows scoring top digital talent has become vital to the largest banks as mobile becomes their future.

The $1.1 billion-asset bank said in a press release Monday that it appointed Ron Coben to become its interim chief executive, succeeding Jeffrey Wilkinson, who resigned "to pursue his next entrepreneurial challenge.

Diebold Inc. has completed its $1.8 billion deal to acquire Wincor Nixdorf, becoming the world’s largest maker of ATMs.

Longtime JPMorgan Chase veteran Bill Wallace is set to become digital chief for its consumer bank.

Gavin Michael, head of digital banking for JPMorgan Chase's retail unit, is moving to Citigroup.

Possible bad outcomes from the slowdown in bank chartering include less financial access in rural areas and further concentration of industry assets in just a few large banks.

Avant, an online consumer lender based in Chicago, is shoring up its funding base with a pair of new transactions.

HSBC has hired Anthony Glover, a veteran of JPMorgan Chase and American Express, to be its head of retail banking in the U.S., a newly created position.

Basel III could deal some serious blows to capital levels at First NBC Bank in New Orleans. The big question is how large will the issue become over the next two years.

PNC Financial Services Group has expanded its support of mobile wallets to Microsoft devices.

Sterling Bancorp in Montebello, N.Y., has sold its mortgage business to Freedom Mortgage of Mount Laurel, N.J., for an undisclosed price.