Indexes show heightened expectations for a recession and souring loans. But executives are upbeat about middle-market businesses and overall job growth.

Banks need to be cautious about negotiating pre-merger Community Benefit Agreements with nationwide activist groups. The deals carry real reputational hazard.

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.