Altos Bank has opened in Los Altos, Calif. The de novo opened on Nov. 25, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Organizers were required to raise $25 million before opening. Tom Vertin, former president and CEO of Golden State Bank, is Altos Bank’s CEO. Four new banks have opened this year: Altos; Nova Bank in Huntsville, Ala.; Integrity Bank in Houston; and Four States Bank in Carthage, Mo.

Elemi Bank, a de novo proposed for Encino, Calif., has secured conditional approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The proposed bank's organizers applied with the FDIC late last year. The agency is requiring organizers to raise $25 million before the bank can open. The proposed bank would be state-chartered and focus on small and midsize companies and their owners, business professionals and real estate owners, and investors, according to

Fiserv CEO Frank Bisignano was selected by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as commissioner of the Social Security Administration. Bisignano, who is also Fiserv's chairman and president, would need Senate confirmation before taking on the role. Fiserv said he will remain its leader until confirmation occurs, adding that it has "an established, long-term succession plan." "I am honored to have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to serve my country," Bisignano said in

Columbia Financial in Fair Lawn, N.J. has repositioned its balance sheet at a pretax loss of about $38 million. The $10.7 billion-asset company said in a press release that it sold about $321 million of available-for-sale debt securities that were mostly purchased during the pandemic. Proceeds were used to fund $85 million of loan growth, buy $66 million of higher-yielding debt securities and prepay $170 million of higher-cost borrowings. The

The Clearing House will increase the individual transaction limit for the RTP Network from $1 million to $10 million. The group said in a press release that the higher limit will support network growth in areas such as real estate, supply chain payments and business-to-business transactions that require larger transaction amounts. The higher limit will become effective on Feb. 9. The last time the RTP transaction limit was raised occurred

Associated Banc-Corp in Green Bay, Wis., will report a net loss in the fourth quarter after repositioning its securities portfolio for a second time. The $42.2 billion-asset company, which raised capital last month, said in a press release that it sold about $1.3 billion of investment securities and that it agreed to sell about $700 million of mortgage loans. The loan sale is expected to close in the first quarter.

Lake Shore Bancorp in Dunkirk, N.Y., has been freed from a regulatory order. The $698 million-asset company said in a press release that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency released Lake Shore Savings Bank from its consent order. The order required the bank to correct deficiencies tied to IT, automated clearing house, audit, management, and Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering. The OCC also terminated its “troubled condition” status for

BankTech Ventures has invested in SOLO, a data collection platform. BankTech Ventures said in a press release that SOLO’s platform enables secure, streamlined data collection and activation that lets banks make more-efficient and proactive underwriting decisions. The size of the investment wasn't disclosed. “SOLO’s unique ability to address the present needs of banks and their customers, while still building for the future, is what sets them apart,” said Carey Ransom, Managing