Driven by improved credit quality and double-digit increases in bank card and trust fees, Commerce Bancshares in Kansas City, Mo., reported a profit of $69 million in the second quarter, up 16% from the same period a year earlier.

Bank of Ozarks Inc. in Little Rock posted record earnings in the second quarter after acquisitions of two failed banks helped boost net income by more than 360%.

NBT Bancorp Inc. of Norwich, N.Y., is expanding into western Massachusetts with a deal to purchase four branches from Legacy Bancorp of Pittsfield, Mass.

Improved asset quality, lower credit costs and gains on investment securities powered Washington Federal Inc. in Seattle to a $30.1 million profit in the quarter that ended June 30, an increase of 138% over the same period in 2010.

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VSB Bancorp Inc. said Wednesday that second-quarter earnings fell 7.5% largely because of lower yields on securities and loans during the period.

The Bank of South Carolina Corp. is on pace to beat its profit target for the full year thanks to strong second-quarter results, its president said Wednesday.

What would members think . . .

The $14 billion-asset Wintrust struck a deal with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Friday for the assets and deposits of First Chicago Bank and Trust, its third FDIC transaction this year.

The slowdown in bank failures has conspiracy theorists looking for a cause, but the truth is likely a lot less exciting: The slowdown may simply reflect a stabilized industry.

Bank of America Corp. said Tuesday that it has hired 75 small-business bankers in Texas and that it intends to add roughly 25 more in the state by the end of the first quarter.

"Gain on sale" margins have fallen along with volume, helping turn mortgage production into another weak point for the banking industry.

Why buy a whole bank when you can snap up its choicest assets? That appears to be the thinking of a growing number of acquirers these days as they troll for select assets and deposits rather than entire banks.

While other regulators busily check off implementation goals set by last year's financial reform law, the new body charged with limiting threats to the financial system is getting lost in the shuffle.

First of Huron Corp. in Bad Axe, Mich., agreed to serve as a source of strength to its $246.2 million-asset Signature Bank, which has been operating under a consent order with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and its state regulator since Jan. 27.

DataMotion Inc., a provider of email encryption services, found in a recent survey conducted by Osterman Research Inc. that nearly 80% of potential community bank customers want to communicate with their banks using secure email, while only about 40% can do so currently.

Home Bancshares Inc. in Conway, Ark., has repaid the Treasury Department the $50 million it received in early 2009 from the Troubled Asset Relief program.

U.S. Bank is letting customers who have lost income due to the state of Minnesota government shutdown skip one monthly payment on most types of loans without penalty.

Union First Market Bank in Richmond, Va., announced Monday that it has opened seven branches inside Martin's Food Markets in central Virginia.

As bankers anxiously await the anticipated 300 new regulations from Dodd-Frank regulators have continued their assault on banking practices. Bankers have recently been concerned about the details and expected requirements regarding automated overdraft-payment programs that were initially issued last November, with follow-up explanations provided in late March.