The traditional way of doing business in the branch network may be dead, but bank branches themselves will survive in some form, says Bank of the West’s Andy Harmening, a senior executive vice president and regional banking group head. Bank of the West has been able to open de novo branches without hiring any additional staff, thanks to advanced technology, to meet customer demand for in-store mortgages, small-business loans and investment advice. Harmening spoke to American Banker at the annual Best Practices in Retail Banking Symposium.

MutualFirst Financial (MFSF) in Muncie, Ind., has reduced its involvement in the Treasury Department's small-business lending fund.

Heritage Financial in Olympia, Wash., plans to merge its two banks.

First Niagara Financial Group in Buffalo, N.Y., has hired a JPMorgan Chase executive to lead its new business unit for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Part of the idea is to generate buzz. But market research is also driving the pay-what-you-want strategy, chief executive officer Steve Streit says in an interview.

The U.S. government did not wait too long to charge UBS and other mortgage underwriters with misleading investors in the run-up to the mortgage meltdown, a U.S. appeals court ruled Friday.

Executives at these banks will be braced for interrogation by investors, analysts and community activists this spring, when the seasons for annual meetings and conference calls on first-quarter results collide.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) is rallying major holders of its stock to let Jamie Dimon keep his board chairmanship, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

WASHINGTON — State regulators in Arizona closed the $45 million-asset Gold Canyon Bank late Friday, the fifth bank failure this year.

The deal is Investors' fourth since late 2011 and would bolster a growing presence in southern New Jersey.

Access National Corp. (ANCX) in Reston, Va., is shutting down a loan office that brought in nearly a third of its profit last year.

A former executive at the defunct Appalachian Community Bank in Ellijay, Ga., was sentenced to prison Friday for running a fraudulent loan scheme.

The Fed, FDIC and OCC have so far given no indication of developing a public complaint database like the one managed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, but that could soon change.

Bank of America Corp.'s $2.4 billion settlement with investors who lost money as a result of the bank's acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co. was approved by a federal judge.

The decision to charge for depositing a check via smartphone or tablet is likely to attract attention from other banks that now give away the service.

Regulators have lifted an enforcement action against a unit of First Financial Northwest (FFNW) in Renton, Wash.

Provident New York says the addition of Sterling Bancorp will super-size returns. Analysts are sold on the combo but question whether the profitability projections for it are realistic.

A former chief executive of First Community Bank has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for running a mortgage-fraud scheme that cost the Hammond, La., bank millions.

Mortgage lending activity was weaker than expected in the first quarter and the result is likely to be slimmer profit margins for a number of banks, according to Paul Miller, a managing director at FBR Capital Markets.

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