An American Banker editor couldn't escape banking even on a family vacation to the new LEGOLAND amusement park in Winter Haven, Fla. Welcome to the land of bricks, but no mortar.

Premier Financial Bancorp Inc. in Huntington, W.Va., reported that its fourth-quarter profit rose 5% from a year earlier, to $2.4 million, as operating expenses declined.

The $114 million-asset Clarkston State Bank in Michigan survived the economic downturn by significantly shrinking its assets, selling a stake in another bank and raising $8.5 million of capital. Clarkston's slow recovery could give hope to other struggling banks.

Big banks need passing grades on stress tests and healthy stocks before they start buying, Frank Cicero says.

Veritec is the latest company to offer a debit card with an "off" switch. It gives cardholders the ability to switch off the account's transaction functions from a Web browser or smartphone.

Patrick Gideon resigned as chairman of Reliance Bancshares Inc. in Missouri after objecting the company's decision to hire an outside consultant.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will propose mortgage servicing rules this year that would restrict force-placed insurance and impose new disclosure requirements for adjustable-rate mortgages.

American Airlines Federal Credit Union announced Tuesday that it has chosen the Episys core processing system of Jack Henry & Associates.

A New York investment group that is planning to buy a Long Island community banking company has agreed to pay the seller a $500,000 break-up fee if the oft-delayed deal is not completed by the end of this month.

Encore Bancshares is the latest Texas bank to sell itself for a nice price, even as bank M&A stutters outside the state.

A Texas banking company formed two years ago to acquire distressed or failed banks is buying its first healthy bank.

Some tweaks to its travel-related fraud-protection strategies helped an Iowa credit union last year reduce its credit card charge-offs by 16%.

The threat of an economic setback is real despite general optimism, warns Joseph Ficalora, the chief executive of New York Community Bancorp.

IMGCAP(1)]

Park National Corp. in Newark, Ohio, has tapped an insider to succeed John Kozak when he retires as chief financial officer next year.

After suffering losses on real estate loans for three straight years, Patriot National Bancorp in Stamford, Conn., has now turned a profit in two consecutive quarters.

At least 17 states are considering bills to create some form of state-owned bank. Backers say such a bank would partner with community banks and strengthening lending. Opponents believe forming the bank would be costly and redundant with what banks already offer.

Eagle Bancorp of Bethesda, Md., has opened its fourth office in northern Virginia and is planning to establish a fifth later this year.

Deposit-rich U.S. banks will seek out more opportunities to lend to small businesses this year as they look to grow revenue, a new survey from a consulting firm predicts.

A two-year-old consent order between the banking unit of Macatawa Bank Corp. and regulators has been terminated after the Holland, Mich., company raised additional capital and reversed a string of money-losing quarters.