Increased interest income would boost banks’ lending profitability, but inflation and mounting expenses, along with the specter of potential recession, loom large.

Moves by bank lobbyists to try to restrict credit union-bank mergers could wind up depriving many consumers of needed financial services.

The $168 million deal would mark the third acquisition of 2022 for Seacoast and continue a years-long effort to bulk up via M&A.

The acquisitive Massachusetts company said it would pay $146.5 million to acquire Randolph and its $800 million-asset subsidiary, Envision Bank.

The pace of deal activity in 2022 is far lighter than it was a year earlier. "Going forward as an industry, we're going to be more selective because of the elongated approval process,” said Jim Ryan III, CEO of Old National Bancorp. Additionally, rising interest rates have led sellers to demand bigger payouts.

The Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, institution uses a fleet of traveling branches to reach far-flung customers who largely eschew modern technology.

Farmers National Banc Corp. in Canfield has agreed to buy Emclaire Financial in neighboring western Pennsylvania — its first move across state lines.

Burke & Herbert, which is based in Alexandria and has been in operation since 1852, has joined a long list of banks planting their flags in Richmond, where the overall deposit market has grown 32% in just five years.

Banking executives and analysts worry that the Federal Reserve's aggressive plan to raise interest rates will be insufficient to tame inflation and overcome economic fallout from the war in Ukraine.

Lynn Fuller, a onetime CEO of the Iowa company, called his ouster “retaliation” for publicly criticizing Heartland’s strategy. He had planned to step down as chairman in May.