Loan production offices lost popularity among community bankers during the financial crisis. A need for growth, amid intense competition, could bring them back in force.

Internal stress-testing is a good practice, but regulatory use of hypothetical results to determine supervisory ratings or required capital levels would be destructive.

The San Diego County Credit Union is licensing new software that allows it to make same-day payments available through the same service as traditional Web bill payment, as well as create a simple link to myriad other automated payments to make user navigation and access easier.

Two San Francisco credit unions have applied to state regulators to acquire the ailing 1st Choice Federal Credit Union and Pacifica-Coastside Credit Union.

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Boston Private Bank & Trust has sold one of its four Seattle-area branches to fast-growing Heritage Financial Corp.

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First Midwest Bank in Itasca, Ill., has hired longtime Chicago-area banking executive Mark G. Sander as its new president and chief operating officer.

Stearns has taken a scattershot approach to failed-bank deals that many observers believe to be a mere revenue play, not a franchise builder. But in Florida, it's ready to expand further.

Changes as a result of Dodd-Frank should allow banks easier access to new markets nationwide and likely result in increased competition and industry consolidation.

Bank of Georgetown in Washington, D.C., has raised more than $25 million in fresh capital that it will use to fund its continued expansion in the city and surrounding suburbs.

Small-business owners prefer bank loans over other forms of financing, but banks remain reluctant to lend due to pressure from their regulators, according to a survey released Monday by the Graziado School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University.

Boston Private Bank & Trust has sold one of its four Seattle-area branches to fast-growing Heritage Financial Corp.

First Midwest Bank in Itasca, Ill., has hired longtime Chicago-area banking executive Mark G. Sander as its new president and chief operating officer.

American 1 Federal Credit Union in Jackson, Mich., has agreed to acquire Premier Financial Credit Union of Clinton Township, Mich.

St. Mary's Bank, a credit union based in Manchester, N.H., has pledged to make $2.5 million in new funds available for low-income Home Loan Payment Relief mortgages, a subprime mortgage program that was developed by the Credit Union National Association.

Expectations had been high that 2011 would bring some serious moving and shaking among community banks. But the murky economy and regulatory uncertainty have discouraged buyers, turning them skeptical and picky.

Bank of New Jersey in Fort Lee has hired Paul A. Meyer as a senior vice president and commercial loan officer.

Having already raised $50 million in fresh capital this year, Seattle Bank announced this week that it has received another $12 million from investors that its chief executive officer said the once-ailing bank would use to accelerate its growth plan.

MB Financial Inc. in Chicago is looking to looking rid itself of its asset-quality problems in one fell swoop.