While branch closings remain the norm throughout the industry, the hunt for suddenly scarce deposits is prompting some community banks to move in the opposite direction and expand their branch networks.

Members of the American Bankers Association's Economic Advisory Committee expect gross domestic product to stall in 2023. Other surveys show a modest contraction. Lenders say sentiment among their borrowers also points to a slight slowdown.

Unrelenting pressure to improve efficiency could keep bank merger activity steady or even accelerate it despite several economic and regulatory factors except for one — credit quality, say two veteran Piper Sandler dealmakers.

Many bank CEOs see the end of work from home coming soon, but other industry leaders are not so sure. Meanwhile, much empty office space lies waiting in limbo.

Community bankers already have decades of experience managing concentration risks and responding to extreme weather events and natural disasters in their communities.

Community banks and credit unions have pooled their resources and ideas to develop a bilingual challenger bank, banking-as-a-service playbook, cheaper alternative to Zelle and other innovations.

AmeriServ Financial in Johnstown boosted earnings through the first nine months of 2022, but not enough to satisfy Abbott Cooper, who called the company a "prolonged underperformer."

Investors worry the intersection of rising interest rates and festering inflation could conjure a recession and drive loan losses. This would keep stock prices suppressed, but share buybacks and merger activity could counter that.

Eric Bergevin, president and CEO of Integrated Financial Holdings, was killed in the Jan. 7 accident, the company said.

The bank hired an executive from The Bancorp to manage its risk operations after the incumbent, Jeff Curry, announced his retirement.

The deal would create a $3.2 billion-asset bank with branches in four states, including an expanded presence in Texas.

Christopher Oddleifson plans to step down from the Massachusetts bank in February. The company named Jeffrey Tengel, most recently an executive at M&T Bank, as successor.

The Tupelo, Mississippi-based institution hasn't made a bank deal since 2018, but it has acquired two asset-based lenders in the past 10 months.

The California bank, which owns the technology underlying the Diem stablecoin from Meta, said its deposits plunged 68% in the fourth quarter but that it has more than enough cash on hand to weather the storm.

Rising interest rates and the potential for weakening economic activity could result in moderating loan demand in the new year. Some bankers are already being more selective in their lending.

Minority depository institutions have limited budgets and staff to upgrade their technology. Some are turning to secondment programs and like-minded fintechs to tackle these problems.

A new app for people with a criminal past and a challenger bank "of immigrants for immigrants" are among the neobanks forging their own path in the banking world.

The Mississippi bank would take a big hit to capital and income but avoid the risk of a bigger payout from a guilty verdict in litigation against banks that did business with Allen Stanford's disgraced financial empire.

In this month's roundup of American Banker's favorite stories: a deep-dive into how 2022 accelerated the decline of overdraft fees, Zelle's plan for addressing fraudulent transactions, the National Credit Union Administration opens the doors for fintech and credit union partnerships for lending and more.

Every issue of the magazine provides great features, opinion pieces and more about the issues keeping industry leaders up at night. Here is a look at some of the most exemplary coverage from the past 12 months.