Retail & Commercial

Monetary incentive plans are vital for keeping your best employees, but sometimes other gestures that cost basically nothing make a bigger impact.

Over the last several months much has been made about the New York BitLicense.

The $12.6 billion-asset United said in a press release Monday that it will pay $269 million, or $37 a share, in stock for the $1.2 billion-asset Bank of Georgetown.

The $9.3 billion-asset Bank of the Ozarks said in a press release Monday that it will pay $402.5 million, or $25 a share, in stock for the $1.7 billion-asset C1 Financial.

National Bank Holdings in Greenwood Village, Colo., has negotiated an early termination of the loss-share agreements that backed up its acquisitions of two failed banks.

Forget "bigger is better." Several private-equity-backed lenders are making loans to small landlords, who represent the biggest chunk of the home-rental market and get less help from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than they once did.

Boston Private Financial Holdings' president, Mark Thompson, has announced plans to retire at the end of the year.

Buying stolen data is an effective way for banks to determine the source of a breach. But fraudsters are increasingly putting up roadblocks because such deals might make it tougher for them to break in next time.

Parke Bancorp in New Jersey decided to sell its SBA lending business when it realized the group had national aspirations. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, a larger bank in Massachusetts, was pleased to buy the unit.

Traditional installment lenders are fixtures in their communities and verify borrowers' ability to repay, which cannot be said of payday lenders.