BayFirst Financial in St. Petersburg plans to focus on larger commercial deals after repairing the damage from a failed strategy that emphasized small-dollar loans backed by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

As community banks lean on third-party vendors to keep up with AI developments, executives say regulatory standards must be put in place to account for the increased risk they face.

Many banks can't say what software their IT provider runs. Only 58% of community and midsize banks even hold the right to audit that vendor, a survey found.

United Bank and Five Points Bank, both ranked among the top-performing banks by Capital Performance Group, said they have stayed in the mortgage business because they see it as a way to build strong relationships in the communities they serve.

The joint American Banker-Capital Performance Group study of 2025's top-performing banks reveals that for institutions under $2 billion of assets, success comes from a fee-income engine, a defensible lending niche and radical cost discipline.

First Guaranty in Hammond Louisiana agreed to a consent order with federal and state regulators that's aimed at improving its credit quality.

HBT Financial in Bloomington, Illinois, has agreed to acquire Tri-County Financial Group in a deal valued $204.6 million.

Gateway Bank, which has narrowed its losses under new CEO Mukhtar Ali, hired a team of residential-construction lenders to speed its return to profitability.

Supporters of mutual banks are lining up behind a proposed regulatory overhaul. The Fed's plan would make it easier for depositor-owned banks to raise capital.

A portfolio review initiated by BCB Bancorp's new CEO, Tom O'Brien, led to a spike in nonaccrual loans at the Bayonne, New Jersey-based bank.

A recipe of no securities, mostly adjustable-rate loans and a cheap rural deposit base made the Texas bank the top performer in the $2 billion-$10 billion asset class.

"Increase Bank is the bank I needed at Stripe," CEO Darragh Buckley said as he announced the rebrand of a community bank he acquired last year.

Coastal Financial in Everett, Washington, is reshuffling its management team and abandoning an expansion plan. On Thursday, the bank reported a nearly $69 million credit expense sparked by a fintech partner's deteriorating financial condition.

Community banks have long been reliant on — and constrained by — a handful of core-banking technology vendors. But enterprise artificial intelligence licenses offer the chance to transcend those limitations.

The Denver-based bank scaled back its estimate of tangible-book-value dilution resulting from the First Foundation deal to 10%, down from the 14% figure projected in October.

More than two dozen community banks submitted letters to the Federal Reserve expressing concern that its proposed "skinny" payment account framework could put them at a competitive disadvantage.

The policies most community banks rely on for cyber liability, fidelity bonds and directors and officers insurance are full of overlapping exclusions, restrictive coverage sublimits and vague specifications. That can become an expensive problem.

Climate First Bank's fast-growing loan portfolio is creating the need for additional funding. In response, the Florida bank is rolling out a checking account that pays a high yield and also sends money to a nonprofit organization chosen by the customer.

Bankers largely agree that there should be reforms, but don't agree on which ones; plus, our second batch of best-performing banks.

In American Banker's ranking of banks with the strongest metrics, here is this year's list in the $2-$10 billion range, based on data from Capital Performance Group.