The two companies in the largest bank merger since the 2008 financial crisis released details of their agreement. It leaves the door open for Discover to field better offers, though the payments company would pay a break-up fee of 4% if it accepts one.

In the wake of the largest U.S. bank deal in more than 15 years, industry executives offered mixed views about the prospects for more big acquisitions. They also spoke about the deal's impact on competition in the credit card business.

The credit card lender's blockbuster acquisition of Discover is not guaranteed to get across the finish line. But co-founder and CEO Richard Fairbank appears to see the rewards that would come from controlling a payments network as outweighing the potential downside.

Some analysts said that the Capital One-Discover deal would undercut the reasoning behind the Credit Card Competition Act — authored by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. — which aims to spur competition for Visa and Mastercard.

In implementing Section 1033, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is leaving out auto loans, one of the largest sources of consumer debt.

The combined company could streamline card payments in a manner similar to American Express' "three party network" — while also doing more with artificial intelligence and other technologies.

The blockbuster merger proposal will be reviewed at a time when the Biden administration is expressing skepticism about consolidation. Its analysis will have to account for markets dominated by both big banks and the likes of Visa and Mastercard.

The Charlotte, North Carolina, company has agreed to sell its remaining 80% stake in its insurance brokerage unit to raise billions of dollars in cash and extra capital. The "wild card" is how Truist will deploy them, one analyst says.

The recently announced merger of Capital One and Discover would create a credit card behemoth, but would also create a credible challenger to the Visa-Mastercard duopoly. Regulators will have to choose between having both or neither.

Capital One Financial's proposed acquisition of Discover Financial Services would create a credit card behemoth with its own payments network. The deal is likely to draw tough regulatory scrutiny, though analysts say there are many compelling strategic reasons for the combination.

Buying North Shore Bancorp in Peabody, Massachusetts, would give Hometown nearly $6 billion of assets and a higher profile in New England.

Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., will propose legislation on Friday that would curtail the Federal Reserve's ability to slow down the bank merger process by mandating that the central bank must approve or deny applications within 90 days of receiving them.

The top five fintech and payments M&A deals had a combined dollar volume of more than $23 billion.

In all, the Denver-based bank plans to sell nine branches to two buyers as part of a decision to exit the state and invest more in technology and other markets where "it has the greatest growth potential."

In the largest deal based on the bank's assets announced since January 1, 2023, the credit union has nearly $12 billion in total assets and the target bank more than $1.5 billion in total assets.

In a bid for scale and diversification, Illinois-based Empeople Credit Union said it would expand in Wisconsin with the planned acquisition of TSB Bank.

First National Bank of Pennsylvania, a unit of FNB Corp., ran into trouble in connection with North Carolina operations it acquired from Yadkin Financial in 2017.

The North Carolina bank agreed to offload Sterling Capital Management to Guardian Capital Group in Toronto. It's the latest step in the effort to simplify Truist.

Brandon Milhorn, the new CEO of the Conference of State Banking Supervisors, used the platform offered by his first major speech to sound an alarm against one-size-fits-all solutions emanating from Washington. "The pendulum has swung too far in the direction of federal regulatory uniformity," Milhorn argued.

The embattled bank said it reviewed and then turned down a $3.25-per-share bid from Dream Chasers Capital. Carver called the offer "unrealistically low" given the bank's "intrinsic value."