Great American to buy Cottonwood Valley in Kansas bank merger
Great American Bank in Lawrence, Kan., has agreed to buy Cottonwood Valley Bank in Cedar Point, Kan. The $504.3 million-asset Great American said in a press release that it plans to buy the $38.3 million-asset Cottonwood Valley in the fourth quarter. The price wasn’t disclosed. “This merger brings together two community-focused institutions with shared values, […]
Old Glory Bank in Oklahoma, SPAC call of proposed merger
Old Glory Bank in Elmore City, Okla., will remain privately held after scrapping a plan to sell to Digital Asset Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, to form a crypto-focused financial institution. Digital Asset Acquisition Corp. confirmed in an Aug. 13 regulatory filing that the companies had mutually terminated their agreement. The Federal Reserve would […]
HomeTrust in N.C. agrees to buy Blue Ridge Bank in Virginia
HomeTrust Bancshares in Asheville, N.C., has agreed to buy Blue Ridge Bankshares in Charlottesville, Va. The $4.4 billion-asset HomeTrust said in a press release that it will pay $448.1 million in stock for the $2.3 billion-asset Blue Ridge. The deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter, priced Blue Ridge at 140% of […]
Fraud prevention firm Entersekt appoints new CEO
Entersekt, a global provider of digital banking fraud prevention and payment security, has a new leader. The company said that Clare Conway had become its CEO. Conway, who was chief operating officer, succeeded founder and former CEO Schalk Nolte. Nolte will remain on the board and will advise on market insight, innovation and long-term strategy.
Citi to buy personalized cards rewards platform Kard
Citigroup in New York has agreed to buy Kard Financial. Citi said in a press release that it the undisclosed purchase price is not material to its financial results. Kard operates a commerce media and rewards platform that helps banks and fintechs deepen client engagement through personalized offers. Its embedded, machine learning-powered personalization and matching […]
CFO departures leads to musical chairs at Magnolia Bancorp in La.
Magnolia Bancorp in Metairie, La., is reshuffling its executive leadership team after Donice Wagner resigned as chief financial officer. Magnolia said in a regulatory filing that Wagner will also step down as the company’s secretary on Aug. 21. Wagner, who accepted those roles in September 2025, told management that she wanted to return to her […]
First Guaranty in La. hit with credit-related consent order
First Guaranty Bancshares in Hammond, La., has entered into a consent order with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions directed toward addressing credit issues. The $4.1 billion-asset company disclosed the enforcement action in a regulatory filing. The order stems from an examination conducted in mid-2025 and covers a broad […]
BofA to pay up to $1.9 billion for stake in Indian lender
Bank of America in Charlotte, N.C., has agreed to buy up to a 49.9% stake in a lending business in a joint with Jio Financial Services in Mumbai, India. BofA will pay up to $1.9 billion, in the form of equity shares and warrants, for a stake in Jio Credit, a digital-first lender with $3.2 […]
Blue Ridge in Virginia widens 2Q loss on troubled loan
Blue Ridge Bankshares in Charlottesville, Va., booked a bigger second-quarter loss than it initially reported after increasing reserves on a problem loan. The $2.3 billion-asset company said in a press release that it lost $1.3 million in the second quarter, compared with the $200,000 loss it originally disclosed in late July. The company had previously […]
HBT to buy Tri-County Financial in Illinois for $205 million
HBT Financial in Bloomington, Ill., has agreed to buy Tri-County Financial Group in Mendota, Ill. The $6.7 billion-asset HBT said in a press release that it will pay $204.6 million in cash and stock for the $1.6 billion-asset Tri-County. The deal, which priced Tri-County at 131% of its tangible book value, is expected to close […]
CCBank in Utah rebranding as Accordia Bank
CCBank in Pleasant Grove, Utah, and its mortgage subsidiary are rebranding. The bank and Security Home Mortgage will rebrand as Accordia Bank and Accordia Mortgage. The change “is a strategic marketing and brand decision driven by … significant growth,” the bank said. “Recognizing that the organization had outgrown its current name, leadership initiated a rebrand […]
OCC denies bunq’s application to charter a U.S. national bank
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has rejected an application from Dutch fintech bunq to launch a national bank in the U.S., citing capital, management, and safety-and-soundness concerns that spanned nearly every factor regulators weigh in chartering decisions. The application, filed under the proposed name bunq US Bank, was sponsored by Bunq US […]
Great Lakes Credit Union in Ill. backs data integration CUSO
Great Lakes Credit Union in Bannockburn, Ill., has invested in Nook, a credit union service organization (CUSO) that provides data integration, member relationship management, and engagement technology for credit unions. Nook said the investment will support development of its data infrastructure and technology. The amount wasn’t disclosed. “Our investment in Nook reflects our belief that credit […]
AltaOne FCU in California invests in earned wage access platform
AltaOne Federal Credit Union in Ridgecrest, Calif., has invested in Veep Software. As part of the investment, the companies launched AnyTimePay, an earned wage access platform that lets members access wages they have earned before payday. The amount of the investment wasn’t disclosed. “At AltaOne, we are always looking for innovative ways to strengthen the […]
River City Bank in Calif. sells $121M in stock for two investors
River City Bank in Sacramento, Calif., sold $121.5 million in stock for two shareholders. The bank said in a press release that it sold 2.7 million shares for $45 each as part of the initial public offering, which was structured as a secondary offering for investors tied to the family of the bank’s founder. The […]
SOLO Data Exchange to coordinate with federal regulators
The SOLO Network, a customer data-sharing and reusable-verification platform, is running a bank reliance pilot observed by FinCEN and coordinated with federal regulators. The company said in a press release that the Treasury Department, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. are involved with the pilot’s coordination, a move […]
Stablecoin clearing house Augustus clears hurdle to open national bank
Augustus, previously known as Ivy, has received conditional approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for deposit insurance. Augustus, which recently obtained similar clearance from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to form a national bank, is expected to become a clearing bank built on a stablecoin and an AI-native core. The FDIC […]
Essex Bank in Connecticut promotes COO to become its CEO
Essex Bank in Essex, Conn., has a new CEO. The bank said in a press release that Lynn Giroux had also become its president. Giroux, who had been the bank’s chief operating officer, succeeded Diane Arnold, who retired. “I am deeply honored to have been selected … especially as Essex Bank continues to celebrate its […]
Servicer Zaria applies for national trust bank charter
Zaria Systems, a servicer specializing in digital asset-backed loans and securities, has applied with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national trust bank charter. The Jackson, Wyo., company plans to form Zaria National Trust Bank to offer a single regulated counterparty to offer corporate trustee services for asset-backed securities, collateralized loan […]
Albert ILC application provides better look at operating model
Albert, a fintech that offers instant lines of credit, is seeking to establish a Utah-chartered industrial bank. The company applied with the Utah Department of Financial Institutions and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on July 20 to charter Albert Bank and obtain federal deposit insurance. The proposed bank would operate as a wholly owned subsidiary. […]
Climate First founder Ken LaRoe discloses ALS diagnosis
Ken LaRoe, the founder, chairman and CEO of Climate First Bancorp, told employees, customers and other stakeholders this week that he has been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the progressive neurological disease also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. LaRoe shared the news in a letter addressed to “the entire Climate First community,” writing that he […]
Consulting firm Cornerstone Advisors taps insider as next CEO
Cornerstone Advisors in Scottsdale, Ariz., has a new leader. The consulting firm said in a press release that Mazen Ghalayini had become its chairman and CEO. Ghalayini, who was president, succeeded Steve Williams, who remains at the firm as a founding partner. “It’s a privilege to build on the incredible foundation Steve and our team […]
Patelco Credit Union invests in open payments CUSO Payfinia
Payfinia, a credit union service organization (CUSO) that provides an open payments framework, has received an investment from Patelco Credit Union in Dublin, Calif. The CUSO didn’t disclose the amount of the investment from the $9.5 billion-asset Patelco. Kal Majmundar, Patelco’s chief technology officer, joined the Payfinia CUSO board. “At Patelco, we are committed to […]
MeridianLink buy wellness platform Credit Mountain
MeridianLink, a software provider, has acquired Credit Mountain, an AI-focused financial wellness platform. MeridianLink said in a press release that the acquisition “marks the start of an era of accelerated technology investment” that will accelerate its strategy of helping financial institutions engage borrowers throughout the lending decision. The price wasn’t disclosed. “MeridianLink has long been […]
Neobank Dakota applies for national trust bank charter
Dakota, a neobank that issued an enterprise stablecoin offering earlier this year, has applied for a national trust bank charter. The company, which already operates as a registered money services business, said in a press release that the new charter would position it “as a federally regulated provider of digital asset custody, stablecoin issuance, and […]