First Bank and Trust in Brookings, S.D., has developed a prepaid debit card product that could open a door for community banks to gain new customers and boost fee income.

WSFS Financial Corp. of Wilmington, Del., said Thursday that it is setting in motion a succession plan it developed five years ago.

Citizens Union Bancorp of Shelbyville, Ky., is acquiring the $45 million-asset Fort Knox National Bancorp Inc. of Radcliff, Ky.

Independence Federal Savings Bank in Washington has corrected at least one deficiency brought up by Nasdaq last month but still remains subject to delisting for not holding a shareholder meeting at least once a year.

Community Bank System Inc. of DeWitt, N.Y., announced Thursday that it has agreed to buy Hand Benefits and Trust Inc., an employee benefit plan and trust services provider in Houston.

The Credit Union Journal

Two months after being appointed acting chief executive officer at First Niagara Financial Group Inc., John R. Koelmel has officially been named CEO of the Lockport, N.Y., company and its subsidiary, First Niagara Bank.

Greater Atlantic Financial Corp. in Reston, Va., said Wednesday that trading of its stock has been suspended because it failed to maintain the minimum $10 million of shareholders' equity required for continued listing on the Nasdaq Global Market.

SOUTHEAST

Its recent deal for Capital Bancorp Inc. in Nashville extends $2.6 billion-asset Renasant Corp.'s march from sluggish markets in its home state of Mississippi to faster-growing regions across its borders.

1st Source Corp. of South Bend, Indiana, has agreed to buy Fina Bancorp Inc. of Valparaiso for $135 million in cash and stock.

PALM DESERT, Calif. — Community bankers are adopting remote deposit technology much faster than they ever took to the Internet.

GB&T Bancshares Inc. said that the fourth-quarter profit it reported last month has been wiped out by the subsequent writedown of several loans made by the president of a subsidiary bank.

The National Credit Union Administration placed the $348 million-asset Huron River Area Credit Union in Ann Arbor, Mich., into conservatorship Friday, the agency said in a press release.

Globe Bancorp in Metairie, La., said it has a preliminary agreement to sell itself to a New Orleans investment group.

Credit unions and banks have been at odds for years, but Town North Bank in Dallas refuses to get pulled into the fray — for good reason.

The Federal Reserve on Thursday approved PNC Financial Services Group Inc.'s $6 billion deal to buy Mercantile Bankshares Corp. of Baltimore.

Michigan banking companies are not so bullish on their home state these days.

Peoples Community Bancorp Inc. of West Chester, Ohio, reported a net loss of $2.3 million for the fourth quarter, compared with net earnings of $87,000 in the fourth quarter of 2005.