The $630.9 million-asset bank said Wednesday that Frank Baier, a partner at Columbia Financial Partners, will become its chief financial officer, pending regulatory approval.

The $294.1 million-asset bank said Wednesday that James Jones, an executive vice president at the private-equity firm Carpenter & Co., is now leading its board.

Visa and MasterCard have developed services for merchants to determine which cards cost more to accept — rekindling the debate over whether small banks will suffer under the Durbin amendment.

In a particularly anemic year so far for bank mergers and acquisitions, the third-largest city in the country has been noticeably absent from the short list.

The dilemma for community bank directors is to choose between minimizing their personal liability and the useful function that board reviews of individual loans can serve.

Michigan First Credit Union said its use of intelligent-deposit ATMs from Wincor Nixdorf AG has helped it deal with a ballooning membership.

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Republic Bancorp Inc. in Louisville, Ky., plans to continue making tax refund loans despite pressure from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the company's chief executive said last week.

The Federal Reserve has reached a written agreement with Northwest Bancorporation of Illinois Inc. in Palatine.

Citizens Republic Bancorp Inc. in Flint, Mich., is planning a reverse stock split that may help it avoid a delisting.

Hampton Roads Bankshares Inc. in Norfolk, Va., is looking to sell 10 branches and its mortgage and insurance businesses.

Loan production offices lost popularity among community bankers during the financial crisis. A need for growth, amid intense competition, could bring them back in force.

Internal stress-testing is a good practice, but regulatory use of hypothetical results to determine supervisory ratings or required capital levels would be destructive.

The San Diego County Credit Union is licensing new software that allows it to make same-day payments available through the same service as traditional Web bill payment, as well as create a simple link to myriad other automated payments to make user navigation and access easier.

Two San Francisco credit unions have applied to state regulators to acquire the ailing 1st Choice Federal Credit Union and Pacifica-Coastside Credit Union.

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Boston Private Bank & Trust has sold one of its four Seattle-area branches to fast-growing Heritage Financial Corp.

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First Midwest Bank in Itasca, Ill., has hired longtime Chicago-area banking executive Mark G. Sander as its new president and chief operating officer.

Stearns has taken a scattershot approach to failed-bank deals that many observers believe to be a mere revenue play, not a franchise builder. But in Florida, it's ready to expand further.