If you think bank marketing is all, or even largely, about advertising, think again. As fewer customers make regular trips to branches, banks are relying more on their marketing departments to connect with the public. We asked bank marketing executives around the country to talk about the challenges they face and how their roles have evolved. Here are some of their responses.

The $447 million-asset Inland Northwest said Russell Lee will take over as CEO on June 29.

Community banks had a banner first quarter, federal regulators said Wednesday — but it may come at a problematic time, politically speaking. The Quarterly Banking Profile may only deepen some lawmakers concern that small banks do not need regulatory relief if they are performing so well.

Southwest Bancorp in Stillwater, Okla., has agreed to buy First Commercial Bancshares in Edmond, Okla.

Green Bancorp in Houston has agreed to buy Patriot Bancshares, saying it will pay $139 million in common stock for the $1.3 billion-asset parent of Patriot Bank.

Valley National Bancorp in Wayne, N.J., announced its second deal in Florida, a state that has been difficult for other out-of-state banks to enter.

The American Bankers Association announced that Rob Nichols, head of the Financial Services Forum and a former top Treasury Department official, would be its next CEO. The move appears designed to boost the ABA's profile inside the beltway.

Independence Bancshares in Greenville, S.C., has raised nearly $8.5 million to help it expand its payments, technology and digital banking operations.

The banking giant hopes that convenience — and less paperwork — will help it do more business with existing small business customers.

Women in banking are making big strides — but there's still a long way to go before achieving gender parity at the executive level. Here's how up-and-comers can carve out a path to the top.

F.N.B. in Pittsburgh has agreed to buy five branches from Bank of America in eastern Pennsylvania.

We asked bank chief financial officers what advice they would give their younger selves. Here is what they wish they'd known when they started their careers.

U.S. banks rebounded in the first quarter as earnings rose 6.9% from a year earlier, to $39.8 billion, and nearly two-thirds of institutions reported higher profits from a year earlier, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Wednesday.

Valley National Bancorp in Wayne, N.J., has agreed to buy CNLBancshares in Orlando, Fla.

MutualFirst Financial in Muncie, Ind., is facing pressure from an activist investor to explore a potential sale, even after the bank earlier this year agreed to implement a demand made by the same activist.

A small Austin, Texas, bank, formerly called Libertad, had to abandon its initial plan to target unbanked Hispanics. But it has made the most of its second chance by finding a niche in lending to real estate investors. Now it's looking to diversify.

The Sunshine State is once again outgrowing the rest of the country and some of its community banks are eager to become the state’s next flagship. Florida has changed a lot since the old Barnett Bank held that title, and so has banking. But now its thriving homegrown contenders aim to reshape the fragmented banking landscape, which is dominated by out-of-state rivals.

First BanCorp in San Juan, Puerto Rico, has agreed to sell about $200 million in nonperforming loans and other assets to improve credit quality.