A Republican senator is reviving a fight over using private collection agencies to help collect tax debts, four years after the program was shut down.

Talk about living your subject matter. Heather Schlegel wants to make a documentary about the where the payment system is headed, and she's using a crow-funding website to raise funds for it.

WSFS Financial in Wilmington, Del., holds the picture contest to engage customers and employees while highlighting improvements to its mobile banking.

Southwest Bancorp is merging its banks in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas into one national charter under the new name Bank SNB.

Some areas of the country are enjoying hot bank-deal markets while others are stone cold-including some over-banked ones. Robert Barba, American Banker's Chicago-based M&A reporter, explains what's behind the numbers.

Franklin Synergy Bank in Franklin, Tenn., is planning to raise money from institutional investors as a prelude to a public offering.

The $126 million-asset company expects to be eligible to deregister because its common stock has fewer than 300 shareholders, according a filing Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Prudential Bancorp (PBIP) in Philadelphia has been approved by shareholders and bank depositors for a second-step conversion.

Monarch Community Bancorp (MCBF) in Coldwater, Mich., has raised $16.5 million in a private placement that will allow it to exit the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

BOK Financial (BOKF) has agreed to acquire GTRUST Financial, an independent trust and asset management company in Topeka, Kan.

Two of the oldest nonprofit credit counselors plan to merge, in a move that would create the second-largest such organization in the U.S.

Georgia Commerce's agreement to buy Brookhaven Bank in Atlanta is a sign that it is becoming more financially advantageous to sell out instead of raising capital, especially in a recovering market like Georgia's.

Bank buyers should run potential deals by regulators early to avoid "landmines" and speed applications, officials from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency say. Proper due diligence, succession planning and risk management are among the things they look for.

FirstBank in Lakewood, Colo., has announced plans to acquire a branch in Palm Desert, Calif., from El Paseo Bank.

The $785 million-asset Georgia Commerce has agreed to buy Brookhaven Bank, the two companies announced Tuesday. The price was not disclosed.

The $18 billion-asset company said late Tuesday it has acquired certain assets and liabilities from Surety Financial Services in Sherman Oaks, Calif. The companies did not disclose the terms or specify the assets that were transferred.

Bridge Bancorp (BDGE) in Bridgehampton, N.Y., is planning to raise at least $25 million in a public stock offering to support its purchase of FNBNY Bancorp in Merrick, N.Y.

The $356.6 million-asset company issued 2.8 million shares of common stock to investors at a purchase price of $1.00 per share.

David Matson will serve on the board's asset and liability committee and on its newly created risk management committee, according to First BanCorp's Tuesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

With nearly 140 banks and a forecast for sluggish growth in the next decade, the city should be primed for consolidation. One big problem: few bankers seem interested in selling.