NuMark and NorthStar Credit Unions plan to join forces later this year, with NuMark CEO Ann Dubie retiring once the deal has been completed.

The proposed combination would create a bank with $3 billion in assets in central Virginia.

The coronavirus pandemic has created major credit issues at the Boston bank and stymied efforts to improve profits, fueling speculation that the onetime serial acquirer could be a takeover target.

The card giant could pay $850 million in cash for the online small-business lender, according to a person familiar with the talks.

The company said it has concerns about a large amount of accounts receivable it bought in July.

Prior to the merger, First Castle was the nation's second-oldest existing federally chartered credit union.

Spinning off its digital bank will allow Pennsylvania-based Customers to beef up its commercial lending and buy other banks. BankMobile, meanwhile, plans to pursue more white-label relationships and perhaps explore its own acquisitions.

Just eight loans had been made as of late July, six of them through a single community bank in Florida, according to new data on the federal rescue program for small and midsize companies hurt by the pandemic.

The digital bank would be sold to Megalith Financial, allowing Customers to focus on commercial lending and letting BankMobile expand more aggressively.

The company will pay an undisclosed amount of cash for Marshall Financial, the parent of Citizens Bank.