Capital

The transaction was set up to give Mercantil more autonomy to expand in South Florida, Houston and New York.

Customers Bancorp said Flagship Community Bank has temporarily withdrawn its application with the FDIC to acquire the digital bank.

The proposed Piermont Bank would be based in Midtown Manhattan. It is the second de novo being planned in New York.

While most acquirers are content to let cost savings trickle down to the bottom line, WSFS will use the purchase of Beneficial to reinvent itself.

The Delaware company plans to reinvest savings from the $1.5 billion acquisition to upgrade technology and delivery channels.

Tekalign Gedamu, who would chair Marathon International Bank, says that Zekarias Tamrat is bad-mouthing the de novo effort following his dismissal and a subsequent payment disagreement. Tamrat was slated to be the bank's president.

Tory Nixon, who became Umpqua's chief banking officer this spring, is trying to drive more customers to use mobile banking (only 15% do so now industrywide) without alienating them in the process.

Zekarias Tamrat blamed the proposed Marathon International Bank's chairman and directors for delays in getting its application approved.

A task force created by the American Bankers Association asserts that applying for a bank charter is too time-consuming and that some de novo rules are too rigid.

Despite continued industry consolidation, the company still expects to have at least 10 chances each year to buy another bank.