In the dog-eat-dog business of banking, a North Carolina start-up has a plan for setting itself apart: making loans to providers of pet care.

EDITOR'S NOTE

Capital Corp. of the West in Merced, Calif., said Monday that it is expanding farther south in the state's Central Valley with a deal to buy the 11 California branches of National Bank of Arizona, a unit of Zions Bancorp., for $27.4 million.

Congress is considering legislation that would give banks tax breaks for setting up accounts to help low-income people save for home purchases, business start-ups, or further education.

Two Massachusetts mutual thrifts have announced that they plan to merge.

United Security Bancshares Inc. of Thomasville, Ala., said that it has discovered evidence of potential fraud in a consumer finance unit.

First Citizens Banc Corp Inc. in Sandusky, Ohio, announced Friday that it has a deal to buy the $279 million-asset Futura Banc Corp. in Urbana, Ohio, for $63 million in cash and stock.

Highlands Bancshares Inc. of Dallas is planning an aggressive branch-building strategy in rural and urban markets to gather deposits it will deploy largely in the Dallas area.

Horizon Financial Services Corp. of Oskaloosa, Iowa, reported a loss for its fiscal third quarter, which ended March 31, and said its thrift subsidiary has consented to the terms of an enforcement order from the Office of Thrift Supervision.

It took AmericasBank Corp. of Towson, Md., nearly a decade to surpass the $100 million-asset mark, but it has embarked on a new strategy to jump-start growth: forming individually branded bank divisions in various Maryland markets led by well-known bankers there.

United Security Bancshares Inc. of Thomasville, Ala., announced late Thursday that it discovered evidence of potential fraud at one of its subsidiaries.

The battle over a proposed merger between two small Massachusetts thrifts is going to court.

MIDWEST

Community First Bancorp Inc. of Madisonville, Ky., announced late Wednesday that it is considering selling itself.

Credit union industry representatives are hoping to use a recent Government Accountability Office report on banks' profitability as ammunition in their fight to increase their business lending and revise their capital regulations.

NorCal Community Bancorp in Alameda, Calif., has opened a branch in Oakland that Stephen G. Andrews, its president and chief executive, thinks can bring in $15 million of deposits within 15 months.

Ending nearly a decade on the sidelines, Bangor Savings Bank in Maine is bulking up in the southern part of its home state.

Though many banking companies its size are struggling to expand earnings, UMB Financial Corp. in Kansas City, Mo., is coming off its best quarter in years and appears poised for a strong 2007.

The board of directors of the struggling Independence Federal Savings Bank in Washington has named John A. Hall president and chief executive officer.