With $250 million of capital headed its way, Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida could make the big leap from survivor to acquirer.

By owning and controlling their credit card businesses, community and regional banks can diversify their local-market lending through balance sheet funding via low-cost, local deposits, while they strengthen their customers' overall banking relationship.

Shareholders were persuaded to double down on PVF because the new chief executive plans to transform the thrift company into a major player in the disrupted Cleveland market.

The FDIC sold the operations of the $585 million-asset Beach First National Bank in Myrtle Beach, S.C., to Bank of North Carolina in Thomasville.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. sold the operations of the $585 million-asset Beach First National Bank in Myrtle Beach, S.C., to Bank of North Carolina in Thomasville.

The $185 million-asset bank reported a profit of $448,000, or 24 cents a share, compared with $278,000 in the first quarter of 2009, it said Friday in its report for the quarter ended March 31.

Meridian Interstate Bancorp Inc. in East Boston, Mass., received permission to repurchase up to 5% of its outstanding shares.

The sale of Harleysville National Corp. of Pennsylvania to First Niagara Financial Group of Buffalo closed Friday, though before the closing Harleysville National sold a wealth management division.

Four Wachovia Corp. veterans plan to build a major regional bank in the Carolinas and Virginia, and are putting a twist on the strategy similar groups are using.

The National Credit Union Administration has entered the real estate market along Florida's Gulf Coast in a big way as it struggles to sell hundreds of properties it ended up holding from three large credit union failures: Norlarco Federal Credit Union, Huron River Area Federal Credit Union and New Horizons Community Federal Credit Union.

Pacific Mercantile Bancorp in Costa Mesa, Calif., reported a $6.8 million loss for the fourth quarter, cutting its loss nearly in half from a year earlier, with the improvement primarily driven by a lower provision for loan losses.

PremierWest Bancorp in Medford, Ore., has succeeded in recapitalizing its bank, though a fresh regulatory order has pushed back the target.

First Financial Holdings Inc. of Charleston, S.C., warned Thursday that it expects to report a steep loan-loss provision for its fiscal second quarter, which ended March 31.

Nearly two-thirds of failed-bank customers either switched to another bank or were likely to change banks in the months following a takeover assisted by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., according to a survey set to be released Thursday by the Deloitte Center for Banking Solutions.

MIDWEST

Sheshunoff Consulting and Solutions has acquired the consulting subsidiary of United Community Banks Inc. in Blairsville, Ga.

Atlantic Southern Financial Group of Macon, Ga., has agreed to obtain Federal Reserve approval for paying dividends or taking on debt.

With its latest deal, Investors Bancorp Inc. has made strides toward achieving two of its goals: extending its reach to New York City and adding to its commercial loan portfolio.

Charter Bank in Bellevue, Wash., is changing its name to better reflect its mission of serving high-net-worth individuals and their businesses.

Central Valley Community Bancorp in Fresno, Calif., filed Tuesday to register roughly 1.3 million shares with the Securities and Exchange Commission.