The New England Patriots did not make it to the Super Bowl this year, but Boston's Eastern Bank did.

In the face of mounting pressure from Wall Street to rein in expenses, BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc. said it would reduce its 2007 marketing spending by about 22%, or $7.8 million.

Meta Financial Group Inc. of Storm Lake, Iowa, announced a loss of $3.25 million, or $1.30 a diluted share, for its fiscal first quarter, which ended Dec. 31.

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In yet another deal between mutual thrifts in Massachusetts, Sharon Co-operative Bank in Sharon has agreed to merge into Eastern Bank in Boston.

BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc.'s largest shareholder has struck a deal to buy a home builder that BankAtlantic spun off three years ago.

German American Bancorp Inc. of Jasper, Ind., said fourth-quarter earnings were flat from a year earlier, at $2.4 million.

Hancock Holding Co. in Gulfport, Miss., reported fourth-quarter earnings rose 11% from a year earlier, to $21.8 million.

First National Bank in Pennsylvania now is allowing customers same-day access to funds from most deposited local checks — no matter what time they get to the bank.

State Bancorp Inc. in Jericho, N.Y., said it has settled a 5-year-old fraud case for $65 million so its executives can focus on the business of banking.

Bank of Kentucky Financial Corp. announced Monday that it has agreed to acquire FNB Corp. Inc. of Fort Mitchell, Ky., for $22 million in cash.

United Bankshares Inc.'s $201 million deal to buy Premier Community Bankshares Inc. in Winchester, Va., would appear to squelch speculation that United is a near-term takeover target.

Bradford Bancorp in Baltimore is continuing its buying spree with a deal for Senator Bank, a $19 million-asset mutual thrift in Cockeysville, Md. Because it would be a merger of mutuals, no cash would change hands.

Old National Bancorp of Evansville, Ind., reported Monday that fourth-quarter earnings fell 10% from a year earlier, to $17.5 million.

First Charter Corp. in Charlotte said Monday that it was delaying the release of its fourth-quarter results until it completes an accounting analysis of both a recent acquisition and the sale of a subsidiary.

BCB Bancorp Inc. in Bayonne, N.J., said its full-year earnings rose 18% from a year earlier, to $5.6 million.

Dime Community Bancshares Inc. in Brooklyn, N.Y., said its fourth-quarter earnings plummeted 34% from a year earlier, to $6 million.

Four years ago Greene County Bancshares Inc. in Greeneville, Tenn., did not have a single branch in Nashville; upon completing its $164 million deal for Civitas BankGroup Inc., it would have $1.2 billion of assets and the No. 9 deposit share in Tennessee's second-largest metropolitan market.

Though SVB Financial Group reported healthy fourth-quarter earnings growth last week, it presented a gloomy outlook for the first quarter.