Branch transaction volumes are dropping but many banks continue to view physical facilities critical to acquiring customers, originating loans and branding businesses: The branches just need a different, lower-cost design.Wells Fargo (WFC), Bank of the West and Umpqua (UMPQ) are among the banks scaling down branches and eliminating teller windows. Here's a photo sampling of branch concepts that do away with the need for larger real estate.

Virginia Heritage Bank in Tysons Corner has begun a common stock offering.

They have spent the last few years building mass through acquisitions, but AmericanWest Bank and First PacTrust Bancorp are now shedding the nonessential parts.

The fees Fannie and Freddie charge to cover credit risk on mortgages have been surging. Large segments of the market may soon be fair game for securitization without federal backing.

Haven Bancorp in Hoboken has agreed to buy Hilltop Community Bancorp (HTBC) in Summit in a merger of New Jersey banks.

McColl Partners, an investment firm formed by retired Bank of America Chief Executive Hugh McColl, could be looking to sell.

A rise in 10-year Treasury yields and a potential collapse of the bond market has many bankers worrying about exposure to long-term securities.

Investors, analysts and reporters have overestimated the Georgia bank's interest in doing M&A deals, chairman and CEO Kessel Stelling says.

While face-to-face interactions may be nowhere near the most common banking transaction these days, they continue to have an inordinate influence on how customers think and feel about a bank. We cannot afford to waste them.

First Commonwealth Bank in Indiana, Pa., has hired Jane Grebenc as its new president.

The $555 billion-asset Canadian company announced Tuesday that Costello plans to retire as its U.S. country head and as president and chief executive of its BMO Financial unit in Chicago.

QCR Holdings in Moline, Ill., has agreed to sell two branches to Clear Lake Bank & Trust in Iowa.

Even if Congress passes a comprehensive reform bill, many immigrants eligible for citizenship may never apply because they can't afford the application and legal fees. Banks should loan them the money, activists say.

Robert Braswell is set to become president and CEO of the Community Bankers Association of Georgia just days after retiring as the state's banking commissioner.

Fidelity Southern (LION) in Atlanta is planning to raise $60 million in a public offering and use the proceeds, along with cash on hand, to exit the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Wisconsin Bank & Trust in Madison has given its longtime president the additional title of chief executive.

In a low-growth market, aggressive banks are seeking to grow by poaching top performers from rivals. There are effective ways to keep top talent on board.

If federal regulators do not get the bulk of Dodd-Frank's provisions in place by the end of 2014, Congress is likely to take another, tougher whack at reform. It will make the 2010 law look tame by comparison.