EMEA

DULUTH, Ga. — Tiny $21 million Etowah Valley Federal Credit Union, headquartered in Cartersville, Ga., Tuesday said it intends to do a "strategic merger" into $1 billion Georgia United Credit Union, here.

The banking company is the latest to flirt with a threshold that promises added regulatory burden. But a pause from more acquisitions should also give management a chance to brush up on deal integration before making an even larger acquisition.

South State in Columbia, S.C., has agreed to buy 13 Bank of America branches in South Carolina and Georgia.

United Community Banks in Blairsville, Ga., has agreed to buy Palmetto Bancshares in Greenville, S.C.

Synovus Financial in Columbus, Ga., posted higher quarterly earnings as its loan-loss provision continued to decline.

SunTrust Banks in Atlanta reported higher first-quarter profit as stronger fee income and lower expenses helped offset a drop in income from lending.

Ocwen Financial announced a preliminary loss of $546 million, or $4.18 per share, for fiscal year 2014 Tuesday, on a higher-than-expected goodwill impairment and charges stemming from the company's settlement with the New York Department of Financial Services.

Wilshire Bancorp in Los Angeles has opened its first branch in Georgia.

A consumer lender with nearly 300 far-flung offices struggled to keep up with multiple compliance projects using email and Microsoft Project. Then it turned to collaboration software, and demanded some customized changes, that helped tie its many loose threads together.

When Mike Mercer spearheaded a special outreach campaign in Georgia, the name of that project sums up what he, and the credit union movement, have always sought to do: "Helping People Afford Life."