An improved economy, hint of potentially higher interest rates and changing demographics are all aiding a lending rebound in the southern and western parts of the United States.

American National Bankshares in Danville, Va., has agreed to buy MainStreet BankShares in Martinsville, Va.

Stonegate Bank in Pompano Beach, Fla., has agreed to buy Community Bank of Broward in Dania Beach, Fla.

Financial Institutions in Warsaw, N.Y., is overhauling its risk-management structure, while also looking for a new executive to handle such duties.

Peapack-Gladstone Financial in Bedminster, N.J., could look to raise up to $100 million in coming months.

Who says you can't have it all? Banks like Eagle Bancorp and Puget Sound Bank are adding loans at a fast clip, but that hasn't stopped them from looking for deals. Still, such banks must make sure their deals do not wreck the growth engine they already have.

Lower volume and improved processes are being credited for making mortgage lenders more efficient at getting loans through the origination process

Citizens Financial Group in Providence, R.I., has hired Russell Herakovich to lead the national expansion of its health care banking group.

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Blue Harbour Group, an activist investor fund, has amassed a 5.7% stake in Investors Bancorp in New Jersey.

Chemical Financial in Midland, Mich., and First National Bank of Omaha in Nebraska have partnered to market and issue a new rewards-based MasterCard.

Bryn Mawr Bank in Pennsylvania has agreed to buy Powers Craft Parker & Beard, an insurance broker and risk management consulting firm.

A generation shift could also create issues for community banks that are in search of fee income.

The invention of baby carrots transformed Americans' vegetable-eating habits. Banks need to shake up their products and services in a similarly unique way if they hope to differentiate themselves, according to Bill Early of PlumDog Financial.

Staff from Alliance Credit Union walked through the debris in the troubled city of Ferguson, Mo., Wednesday, asking business owners if they needed a 0% loan.

Some politicians and regulators appear determined to shrink big banks. But doing so could hurt Americans who appreciate big banks' geographical reach and wide range of services, according to financial markets scholar Stephen Matteo Miller.

Polonia Bancorp in Huntingdon Valley, Pa., has begun looking for a new president and chief executive to replace its retiring CEO Anthony Szuszczewicz.

City National in Los Angeles has formed an Asian subsidiary to provide research for its emerging markets fund.