The Honolulu-based utility sold a 90.1% stake in American Savings Bank. The deal valued the lender at $450 million.

The trend of credit unions buying banks is a lightning rod for controversy in the banking industry. Despite this, such mergers are increasingly common.

Community banking highlights in 2024 included strong deposit growth at a Los Angeles-based digital-only bank, continued regulatory scrutiny of banking-as-a-service arrangements, along with a transformational deal in the Old Dominion.

A record 22 credit unions announced plans to acquire banks in 2024, though the year ended on a discordant note as regulatory concerns appear to have derailed a planned CU-bank deal in Georgia.

2024 brought important issues front and center for bankers, ranging from the rise of artificial intelligence to the fall of banking-as-a-service.

These banks are expected to draw regulatory scrutiny in the coming year. 

Richard "Dick" Parsons, the former Citigroup chairman who died Thursday, is credited with helping the New York megabank survive the financial crisis. Earlier in his career, he led Dime Savings Bank out of the savings-and-loan crisis.

The Seattle-based company's deal with Bank of America comes five weeks after the termination of its planned sale to FirstSun Capital Bancorp in Denver.

In a collaboration with Coinbase and Flexa, Regal theaters now accept on-chain U.S. digital currency payments for movie tickets and concessions; the Bank of Nova Scotia has completed its second investment in KeyCorp; Fiserv entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Canadian-based payments fintech Payfare; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

Transactions grew larger and more frequent this year. As a result, aggregate value more than tripled from 2023 and topped $15 billion.

The executive dubbed "Captain Emergency" stabilized ailing companies such as AOL Time Warner and Dime Savings Bank before being named chairman of Citigroup in 2009.

This year saw the impact of Donald Trump's return to the White House, the first rate cut from the Federal Reserve in roughly four years and more.

Looking back at the year, this is how they impacted the financial services industry.

JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, U.S. Bank and Citi had more than $1 billion in combined first-mortgage loans as of Sept. 30.

The watchdog accuses Rocket Homes and The Mitchell Group brokerage of initiating a plan to generate origination business for Rocket Mortgage.

The two companies continue to tick items off their year-end to-do list, which analysts hope will tee up the merger for finalization in early 2025. Regulatory approval remains a major question.

Hanscom Federal Credit Union in Massachusetts said it would acquire Peoples Bancorp and its insurance agency. It marked the 21st deal of the year involving a credit union buying a bank.

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.