Retail & Commercial

New disclosures show the ransomware attack on the marketing vendor affected far more community banks and credit unions than initially estimated.

First Federal Bank stretched its retail mortgage operations into Louisiana and Mississippi, following its expansion into the Midwest and Arizona in 2023.

Just a handful of de novo banks opened in 2025. But there are signs of renewed activity, with eight banks currently actively in formation and more than 10 charter applications on file with the FDIC.

Mike Dargan, former chief operations and technology officer for UBS, stepped down at the end of 2025 and will become the CEO of neobank N26 this spring.

Bank First in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, has completed its acquisition of Centre 1 Bancorp in Beloit; Citi plans to shed its remaining Russian operations; Heritage Financial in Olympia, Washington, has received regulatory approvals to acquire Olympic Bancorp; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

As artificial intelligence is integrated into more and more core banking operations, bank boards of directors need to make sure business continuity plans account for the possibility of AI system failures.

Last year highlighted the risks for banks in lending to nondepository financial institutions. A new approach by Trump-era regulators could change the playing field.

Community banks are always looking for ways to expand local engagement. But for some banks, sponsoring disc golf courses, clubs and events offers a relatively inexpensive way to boost their profile among a very loyal customer base.

The Mortgage Bankers Association is examining the data to see if the high ratio warrants a new push for a premium cut but said rising arrears call for caution.

Conditional approval of a national bank charter used to be a virtual guarantee that an institution would open its doors. But the OCC's recent treatment of Erebor Bank suggests that banks with conditional approvals still have work to do.