State Bank and Trust of North Dakota has closed its purchase of Bell Mortgage, a lender based in Minneapolis.
The $1.9 billion-asset Fargo, N.D., company agreed to buy Bell in November for an undisclosed price. Bell funds about $1 billion of mortgages a year, most of them through retail channels.
Bell employs 180 people in 28 mortgage offices in Minnesota, Montana and Arizona. State Bank and Trust has roughly 500 employees and 14 full-service banking sites.
In addition to 10 new AI agents for financial services, the company announced partnerships with software and data providers FIS, Microsoft, Verisk, Third Bridge, Fiscal AI, D&B, Experian, GLG, Guidepoint and IBISWorld.
Public comments on the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's GENIUS Act implementing regulations highlighted the rift between banks and crypto firms over the permissibility of yield on stablecoin holdings, an issue that has stalled crypto market structure legislation for months.
The proposal is part of what SEC Chairman Paul Atkins calls his "Make IPOs Great Again" agenda.
Opportunity favors the prepared, and Cambridge Savings Bank had been saving for years to buy a nearby rival. Now, as the mutual bank announces plans to acquire First Seacoast Bank, it says it's found "the right deal at the right time."
Federal Reserve Gov. Michael Barr said Tuesday that the U.S. energy sector is more insulated from shocks than Europe's, particularly in natural gas prices. However, he warned that the war is pushing up gasoline prices, which could spill over into other parts of the economy.
If a card is immediately not easy and safe to use in an external app, consumers will quickly turn to another card, executives from Regions Bank, Pinnacle Financial Partners and Barclays warned American Banker's Payments Forum.
