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Banking activity snapped back into expansion mode in February according to the latest reading in the Index of Banking Activity. The upturn was driven primarily by significant momentum in the Northeast and Midwest regions and contrasted strongly with a particularly weak reading in January. In the latest month, index components that track loan application and approval activity turned positive for both the consumer and commercial sides of the business. Survey respondents also were mostly positive on questions related to credit quality, with sentiment on delinquencies improving in several regions. Despite the upturn for the loan-origination indicators, there was no evidence of increased momentum in the component that monitors loan balances outstanding. But this seems to have stemmed from a positive development as well, as several respondents noted that February saw customers pay down loan balances and, in one respondent's case, the payoff activity cleared up loans that had been viewed as problematic in January. One common theme across the respondent pool was that competition had intensified significantly for new commercial loan business, resulting in a tougher pricing environment in several regions.

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BNC Bancorp in High Point, N.C., has delayed the closing of its acquisition of Southcoast Financial in Mount Pleasant, S.C., as the Federal Reserve has not completed its review of the deal.

AmeriServ Financial in Johnstown, Pa., will record a first-quarter loss because an unnamed energy-sector client plans to liquidate under bankruptcy protection.

Bank of America appears to be retaining more deposits from recent branch sales, using technological advancements to keep customers despite the lack of a physical location.

Brickell Bank in Miami has bought a trade finance portfolio from the investment brokerage firm INTL FCStone.

Blue Ridge Bankshares in Luray, Va., has agreed to buy River Bancorp in Martinsville, Va.

HarborOne Bank is proving that financial education really can improve the bottom line.

Franklin Financial Network in Franklin, Tenn., plans a debt issuance to pay for its recently completed exit from the Small Business Lending Fund and to fund other activities.

Enterprise Bancorp in Lowell, Mass., has purchased the site of a former hotel that recently burned to the ground and plans to put a new branch there.

The management team at Western Alliance Bancorp. has decades of experience with hotel development. The company's pending purchase of a large loan book — and expansion into national hotel lending — will be scrutinized in coming years.

First State Bank of DeKalb County in Fort Payne, Ala., has agreed to buy First Bank of the South in Rainsville, Ala.

Word that Hancock Holding in Mississippi would more than double its loan-loss allowance has triggered broader questions about how the oil slump could spread beyond the energy portfolios of a whole class of banks.

Former Oklahoma governor and American Bankers Association chief Frank Keating has been named a director of BancFirst in Oklahoma City.

In many cases, customers aren't staying with a bank's brand because they are satisfied. They are staying with the brand because it's too hard to leave.

Western Alliance Bancorp. in Phoenix has agreed to buy GE Capital's hotel franchise finance loan portfolio.

ESSA Bancorp in Stroudsburg, Pa., has a new chairman and two new independent directors.

ConnectOne Bancorp in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., has exited the Small Business Lending Fund program.

Opus Bank in Irvine, Calif., has hired Jeffrey Zaks, a CIT Group banker, to lead its new media and entertainment lending group.

A recent meeting with the OCC is giving mutual thrifts hope that they can find a way to bring in more capital before the next recession. The OCC, while open to a solution, is keen to protect the rights of those institutions' deposit holders.