The once-icy relationship between banks and fintechs thawed quite a bit in the last year. The next step might be for banks to start buying startups.

First Foundation in Irvine, Calif., has agreed to buy a pair of branches from Pacific Western Bank in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Medallion Bank in New York has sold its asset-based lending division to an unnamed buyer.

Banks continue to lay off operations workers and send their jobs to other countries with lower labor costs. They may feel they have no choice, but there are risks to consider.

Citigroup on Tuesday said it will invest $1 billion over the next four years to upgrade technology and provide a range of new services in its Mexican banking division.

The $21 billion-asset bank said Monday that it had hired John Gannon as group manager of Small Business Administration lending and Clyde Thompson as credit officer.

Capital One Financial plans to start issuing credit cards for the outdoor equipment chain Cabela's under a deal connected with the retailer's expected sale to Bass Pro Shops.

Midland States Bancorp in Effingham, Ill., has ended loss-share agreements related to two failed banks it acquired.

The $9.6 billion-asset company disclosed in a recent regulatory filing that it has a letter of intent to buy an unnamed banking company in Florida with about $400 million in assets.

Chicago Treasurer Kurt Summers plans to divest $25 million the city has invested with Wells Fargo after the company admitted to opening potentially millions of bogus client accounts, joining state officials who have pulled business from the bank because of the scandal.

First Merchants Corp. recently agreed to buy a minority stake in a bank in an attractive market. The move could allow the company to obtain intel while gaining an edge should the other bank decide to sell.

Meta Financial in Sioux Falls, S.D., has agreed to buy most of the assets and liabilities for a company that handles transactions for tax preparers.

First Commonwealth Financial in Indiana, Pa., has agreed to buy DCB Financial in Lewis Center, Ohio, for $106 million in cash and stock.

Julie Stackhouse, head of supervision at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, discusses the insights that resonated at the regulator's recent community banking conference — some encouraging for the future of small financial institutions, others less so.

Shiv Govindan at Pilgrims & Indians Capital has kept a relatively low profile as a bank investor. But two key board appointments at struggling community banks promise to make him a more visible player in the industry.

Scottrade Financial Services, an online brokerage services company whose holdings include the $16 billion-asset Scottrade Bank, is working with an adviser to explore a sale, according to people familiar with the matter.

Revere Bank in Laurel, Md., has raised $31 million in a subordinated debt offering that it plans to use for M&A and other purposes.

Granite Bank in Portsmouth, N.H., has acquired Cousins Home Lending.

Riverview Bancorp in Vancouver, Wash., has agreed to buy certain assets and liabilities of MBank in Gresham, Ore.

Kim Kaselionis saw a lot of small-business-loan applications die on her desk when she was a bank chief, so she started a crowdfunding firm to nurse along startups till they were bankable. That's where Fresno First comes in.