During a panel discussion at American Banker's Digital Banking conference last week, experts from American Commerce Bank discussed the launch of its virtual banking platform and theorized why other executives might be slow adopters.

With the Federal Reserve holding interest rates at elevated levels through the first half of the year, analysts are sharpening their collective focus on possible fallout from high deposit and borrowing costs.

Old Glory Bank, which has ties to conservative political figures and touts itself as "pro-America," needs to raise more capital to meet its regulator's requirements. "Failure is not an option. We're going to figure this out," the bank's president and CEO said.

New top executives were lined up for lenders across the West and Midwest, including Bank of North Dakota.

VersaBank plans to use the one-branch Stearns Bank Holdingford in Minnesota as a platform to expand a lucrative niche business acquiring loan and lease receivables from point-of-sale lenders.

There were 27 bank acquisitions worth $5.45 billion announced in the second quarter as of mid-June. That was more than the $5.2 billion combined value of deals announced over the previous five quarters.

This year Texas banks dominated American Banker's annual list of the top-performing larger community banks. See which institution came in at No. 1 for this asset class.

The best-performing larger Main Street Banks, those in the $2 billion to $10 billion asset class, were asset sensitive, a position that worked to their advantage as rates continued to climb in 2023.

Vancouver, Washington's Riverview Bancorp announces Nicole Sherman as its next president and CEO; Happauge, New York-based Dime Community Bancshares is expanding its deposits strategy to Manhattan; UBS hires Guggenheim banker Ananya Das; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

PeoplesBank and Cornerstone Bank entered into an agreement to combine their holding companies in a deal slated to close early in 2025. The banks would continue to operate separately.