After nine months of stockpiling capital to ensure they could withstand the strains of the pandemic, Canada's biggest banks are facing a new problem: how to spend all that extra money.

Discussions to combine Penobscot County Federal Credit Union and The County FCU began in June 2019 but the deal was not completed until the end of 2020.

The deal between San Francisco-based lender and Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. V is latest example of a closely held firm going public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company.

Preparing to expand its B2B e-commerce offerings in North America, Fortis Payment Systems LLC has acquired technology integrator Swype at Work and entered a long-term partnership with Swype affiliate Net at Work.

U.S. Bancorp says its agreement to buy a portfolio with $320 billion of assets under management will raise its profile on the West Coast. The MUFG unit plans to reinvest proceeds from the sale in other priorities.

HoldCo Asset Management wants more details about the banking company’s pending merger with SVB Financial. The shareholder's concerns center on payouts to the seller's management team and questions about the sale process.

The combined institution will hold roughly $30 million in assets and serve about 4,000 members.

The North Carolina regional has sold an advisory business and has found buyers for two 401(k) bookkeeping operations.

Acquiring Boston Private could put the parent company of Silicon Valley Bank years ahead of schedule in catering to the investment needs of high-tech and biomedical clients, whose industries have thrived during the pandemic.

Rockefeller Capital Management will buy Whitnell & Co., a business Associated bought in 2017 that manages $1.4 billion of assets.

The California company, which focuses on technology companies and entrepreneurs, will make a big push into wealth management as part of the proposed acquisition.

"The construction industry has been challenged by the pace of evolution and is still dominated by invoice and check payments," said Michael Praeger, CEO and co-founder of AvidXchange.

Speculation is swirling that the Boston company will go on a buying spree after raising $1.8 billion, though some investors are advising caution. This tension makes CEO Bob Rivers one of our community bankers to watch in 2021.

The regulator's order moves the San Francisco-based company one step closer to becoming the first online lender to own a bank.

Chris Maher recently unloaded loans hurt by the coronavirus shock, convinced he was freeing the New Jersey company of baggage that could impede a large M&A deal. This assertive move makes him one of our community bankers to watch in 2021.

The motivation behind JPMorgan Chase's purchase of rewards company cxLoyalty is clear — travel spending and rewards have suffered greatly during the pandemic — but another problem Chase is tackling with this acquisition is the need to wean people off cash rewards.

Fallout from the coronavirus pandemic consumed the industry this year, but other events, including a scandal at the National Credit Union Administration and a credit union under fire for lack of board diversity, also made waves.

The year 2020 was disruptive and chaotic. And while it derailed or delayed some companies' plans for growth, it also created opportunities for new combinations — or, at the very least, didn't slow them down.

JPMorgan Chase is buying cxLoyalty, a major credit card loyalty platform, in a bid to enrich its own card loyalty programs when travel resumes after the global pandemic.

A look back at a year in which little went according to plan for credit unions.