A new, 10-part podcast series examining housing blight; JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon baits President Trump; U.S. Bank returns to small-dollar lending; and more from this week’s most-read stories.

Some are relying on a national, digital strategy. Others say the right balance of costs and growth comes from more traditional means such as targeted branch openings and out-of-market expansion.

Some startups are eschewing San Francisco and New York to set up shop in the middle of America. And for good reason.

The bank announced plans to open 100 to 125 branches in fast-growing cities across the Southeast, and will close an equal number in the Midwest. In a way, it's finishing a plan it cooked up nearly two decades ago.

While the regulatory environment is more accommodating for big deals, many regionals still have their reasons for staying on the sidelines.

An uptick in lending helped to offset declines in both service charges and mortgage banking fees at the Cincinnati company.

Level One Bank in Farmington, Mich., has hired a team of mortgage bankers from MB Financial, which previously announced it was shutting down this business line.

After the Cincinnati bank started a personal assistant service for new mothers, it learned new parents needed help with budgeting, and that motivated it to team up with a Goldman Sachs firm to establish a financial wellness program for all its employees.

Turnover of chief risk officers is on the rise as CEOs look to add executives whose experience goes far beyond assessing credit risk. Sometimes they are promoting from within, but often they are poaching talent from rival banks.

The Cincinnati company sold 5 million shares in the payment processor, as it continues to scale back its ownership stake.

Five of the year’s biggest deals by value have been announced in the last two months, including some that involve regional banks that have been champing at the M&A bit.

The Cincinnati bank is following a wider industry strategy of opening new branches in faster-growth, urban markets.

M&A activity has picked up in recent weeks as several regional banks have struck big deals. Is it a blip or a sign of what's to come?

Holding multiple face-to-face meetings with executives from MB Financial helped Fifth Third land the Chicago company for a lower price than another suitor offered.

Banks will need to evolve further and faster to reach consumers in an interconnected, always online world, according to industry leaders.

Most big banks are launching robo-advisers to compete for a new breed of wealth management customer. The risk is that automated services will disappoint traditional customers.

Financial institutions have spent time and money to try to make their branches and digital services more accessible, but Fifth Third and TD Bank are among employers working with the nonprofit Project SEARCH to meet an overlooked need: finding jobs for young people with autism and other cognitive challenges.

The $142-billion asset bank expects to deepen relationships with existing customers and add new ones, by collaborating with Intellect Global Transaction Banking to develop new services.

Comprehensive analysis of the banking industry's first big legislative victory since the crisis; lawsuits target banks with websites in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act; what a homegrown app for millennials has to teach Wells Fargo; and more from this week's most-read stories.

While industry officials welcomed a bulletin from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency encouraging banks to develop alternatives to payday loans, they are making no commitments to offer such products.