As Huntington's chief regulatory liaison, Helga Houston deserves much of the credit for the fact that the Fed approved the FirstMerit acquisition in just 185 days.

Sandy Pierce's myriad responsibilities include managing Huntington’s 18 regional bank presidents, overseeing its private bank and leading all activities in Michigan.

The tie-up comes as banks put more resources into helping customers manage their finances digitally.

Higher dividends and more aggressive repurchase programs are bound to attract more investors, which could boost stock prices and prompt more dealmaking, analysts said.

The largest banks announced plans to distribute capital back to shareholders after the Fed gave passing grades to everyone following this year’s CCAR stress tests.

Even with card defaults ticking up slightly, regional banks remain committed to pursuing more credit card business as they look to both diversify their balance sheets and deepen relationships with customers.

Fifth Third, Huntington Bancshares and KeyCorp are among the companies backing an effort to bring startups to the Buckeye State.

Even with net interest margins improving, banks are reluctant to raise rates on deposits until more floating-rate loans reprice. But how long can they wait before depositors start demanding higher yields?

Huntington, Wintrust and Eagle reported extremely low quarterly chargeoff ratios, and their CEOs say they remain confident about the future. But, as one observer says, "ultimately some sector is going to get overextended."

Opus Bank has added Paul Greig, who was CEO of FirstMerit until its sale in July, as a director.