Banking News from American Banker

Baton Rouge-based Investar Holding Corp. has agreed to pay $84 million for Wichita Falls Bancshares, which operates five branches in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

Dime Community Bancshares, which has added dozens of bankers over the past two years, is now ready to consider expanding its geography.

The Missouri bank surveyed consumers about what kind of financial management tools they use, then built its My Finance360 tool in response.

GodFather malware mimics and manipulates real financial apps on Android devices, exposing sensitive data without user suspicion.

Kevin Fromer, who has headed the Financial Services Forum since 2017, announced his departure Monday. Fromer transformed the Financial Services Forum to advance the interests of the largest U.S. banks.

The insights of frontline employees can be invaluable tools for improving a bank's operations. It's up to executives to get out of the office and listen to what they have to teach them.

Megadeal activity picked up in June.

The Santa Anna National Bank in Central Texas is the second bank to fail this year.

Richmond, Virginia-based Atlantic Union Bankshares has sold $2 billion in performing commercial real estate loans to Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies. 

Truist Financial is bulking up its commercial and corporate banking arm by hiring senior executives from rival firms and promoting from within; F.N.B. Corp launches a $46 million-dollar community development program focused on Main Street revitalization; buy now/pay later lender Affirm extends its partnership with Moore Capital through May 2027; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

While consumer distress in auto and personal loans also picked up, the pace of growth among mortgages was atypical, Vantagescore's monthly credit gauge said.

How Capital Performance Group conducted its rankings analysis.

Community banks that could reel in cheap deposits while keeping a lid on expenses were able to outperform peers in 2024.

Lenders have been working to shrink their rent-regulated real estate loan portfolios since a watershed state law passed in 2019, but those plans may be accelerated.

The digital bank is returning to crypto trading, a service it first offered in 2019 but had to shelve due to regulatory compliance concerns.

The pending sale of the branches in eastern Pennsylvania to a central New York-based bank comes amid Santander's planned closure of 18 branches this summer and its continued focus on building out a national digital bank.

The prolific purchaser is entering the state in a bid to expand its Southwest presence.

Many young people begin their journey into adulthood without a solid grounding in the basics of personal finance. Banks and other financial institutions are in a unique position to provide that knowledge.

New self-regulatory guidelines for credit cards and checking accounts are arriving at a time of deregulation in Washington, D.C.

Cincinnati-based First Financial scooped up Westfield Bank near Cleveland after Westfield's parent company decided to exit the bank space and focus on its core insurance business.