BNY announced expanded employee benefits and a boost in its minimum wage for all U.S.-based employees; Synovus has added former FIS executive Greg Montana to its executive board; National Bank Holdings sold off a fifth of its securities portfolio; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

The Pennsylvania-based buyer said it would pick up nearly $350 million of assets and a commercial-focused loan portfolio as part of the $54.6 million deal.

The Federal Reserve and OCC approved the company's plan to buy Independent Bank Group in Texas, putting the deal on track to close early next year as expected. In an atmosphere of M&A delays for banks, the deal is on a relatively smooth path.

Companies are dropping sustainability-linked loans as they face a tougher regulatory environment.

When combined, the top five states have roughly 23.9 million households classified as unbanked according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The Columbus, Ohio-based bank said its all-stock bid for Penns Woods Bancorp would expand its footprint and give it $1.7 billion of deposits and $1.9 billion of loans.

The bank ends the year with a substantially different profile from early 2024, which brought new leadership, a significant reduction to its mortgage operations and a corporate rebrand.

The combination would create a Northeast regional bank with nearly $24 billion of assets. It would rank as the eighth-largest bank in the Boston metropolitan area by deposit market share.

Affirm partners with Sixth Street to sell its buy now/pay later loans to the investment firm; Associated Banc-Corp promotes Steven Zandpour to deputy head of consumer and business banking; Visa Direct speeds up its money transfers; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

Banks will feel the fallout from a court's decision to strike down a Nasdaq rule that would have mandated more disclosure about the racial and gender composition of corporate boards.