On Jun. 30, 2021. Dollars in thousands.

Executives at the 90 institutions that made the ninth annual ranking are boosting benefits to attract new employees, amid intense competition for talent. They're also rethinking how they approach recruiting and increasing their diversity efforts.

With its agreement to buy KS StateBank’s residential mortgage operation, Kansas-based Armed Forces is going all in on home lending.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has raised “certain regulatory concerns” about Blue Ridge Bankshares, delaying its combination with FVCBankcorp well into next year.

The $323 million acquisition would give the Indiana bank a presence in affluent Oakland County and in Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids.

OceanFirst Financial in New Jersey has agreed to pay $186 million to buy Partners Bancorp, which owns two banks that operate in the Washington suburbs and surrounding areas.

The small Pennsylvania regional signed up four cryptocurrency services companies as customers this week. CEO Sam Sidhu says the bank's new platform is helping it win business in this highly specialized market.

Amid a spate of deals in 2021, community banks are actively recruiting from merging rivals that are focused on closing and integrating acquisitions.

The Cooperative Bank in Massachusetts is working with the tech startup Carefull to monitor accounts for signs that older clients are being swindled by scammers — including people close to them.

The Indiana-based online banking pioneer is purchasing First Century, a similarly tech-savvy company, for $80 million. The deal would diversify its revenue and improve its prepaid card offerings for small businesses.