The deal would create a $3.2 billion-asset bank with branches in four states, including an expanded presence in Texas.

Christopher Oddleifson plans to step down from the Massachusetts bank in February. The company named Jeffrey Tengel, most recently an executive at M&T Bank, as successor.

The Tupelo, Mississippi-based institution hasn't made a bank deal since 2018, but it has acquired two asset-based lenders in the past 10 months.

The California bank, which owns the technology underlying the Diem stablecoin from Meta, said its deposits plunged 68% in the fourth quarter but that it has more than enough cash on hand to weather the storm.

Rising interest rates and the potential for weakening economic activity could result in moderating loan demand in the new year. Some bankers are already being more selective in their lending.

Minority depository institutions have limited budgets and staff to upgrade their technology. Some are turning to secondment programs and like-minded fintechs to tackle these problems.

A new app for people with a criminal past and a challenger bank "of immigrants for immigrants" are among the neobanks forging their own path in the banking world.

The Mississippi bank would take a big hit to capital and income but avoid the risk of a bigger payout from a guilty verdict in litigation against banks that did business with Allen Stanford's disgraced financial empire.

In this month's roundup of American Banker's favorite stories: a deep-dive into how 2022 accelerated the decline of overdraft fees, Zelle's plan for addressing fraudulent transactions, the National Credit Union Administration opens the doors for fintech and credit union partnerships for lending and more.

Every issue of the magazine provides great features, opinion pieces and more about the issues keeping industry leaders up at night. Here is a look at some of the most exemplary coverage from the past 12 months.