Loans or other investments that "revitalize or stabilize federally designated disaster areas" could help boost banks' scores on Community Reinvestment Act exams, the FDIC said in a letter to institutions.

Deposits have hit their highest level in history despite efforts by banks to aggressively lower rates. Some are looking at new charges despite the risk of losing customers.

Bank of Commerce Holdings in Redding, Calif., has beefed up its payroll processing capabilities by acquiring a small payroll firm in its hometown.

The bank said in a press release that it would use the proceeds to further strengthen its capital position, support growth strategies and for general corporate purposes.

ICBA says fair-lending actions overstep legal authority by focusing outside a bank's CRA assessment boundaries.

In 2008 the Democratic nominee raised far more money from Wall Street than John McCain. But for 2012, the financial industry is favoring Mitt Romney over the incumbent president.

Community bankers say they'll continue offering free checking for the foreseeable future, even if they're not entirely happy about it. If they followed the big banks by adding fees or changing terms, "we'd lose the accounts," says one local banker.

U.S. Bancorp will add more than 300 employees in St. Louis by the end of the year largely to support its growth of mortgage lending in the area, according to a report in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.

The $3.4 billion-asset company announced last week that it paid $600,000 for a ham — the grand champion ham at the 48th Kentucky Country Ham Auction, an annual charity event.

With the Eastern Seaboard bracing Friday for the arrival of Hurricane Irene, the FDIC told banks to look in the not-too-distant past for how to deal with damaging storms.

PVF Capital Corp. in Solon, Ohio, reported a loss of $2.6 million for its fiscal fourth quarter, a slight improvement from a year earlier.

Under orders from its regulators to boost a key capital ratio, Pacific Mercantile Bancorp in Costa Mesa, Calif., announced that it has already raised $11.2 million of fresh capital and has a deal in place to raise $27.3 million more.

First BanCorp in San Juan, Puerto Rico, has $525 million of capital committed. Now it needs its shareholders to show up and vote for a key part of its recapitalization plan.

Texas Capital Bancshares Inc. in Dallas has lost the first round in a legal battle over a loan it made to an Oklahoma automobile dealer that soured.

Regulators have hit Woodbury Banking Co. with a consent order for weaknesses in the company's asset quality, capital, earnings and management.

A new Federal Reserve Board report refutes the claim by some that the Community Reinvestment Act and affordable housing goals of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac caused the mortgage crisis.

Old National Bancorp in Evansville, Ind., announced Friday that it is shuttering nine of the 52 branches it inherited when it took over the failed Integra Bank and will move the accounts to nearby offices.

Opportunistic community banks in south Florida have seen a dramatic increase in new customers because of a contraction of banks caused by failures and mergers.

Two more community banks have exited the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program with loans they received from another government fund designed to encourage small-business lending.

A small Silicon Valley bank that lends primarily to technology startups has opened a lending office in incubator space in Boston.