River Run Bancorp in Newburyport, Mass., is planning to merge with Rollstone Bancorp in Fitchburg, Mass. The $2.6 billion-asset River Run said in a press release it plans to absorb the $900 million-asset Rollstone in the first half of next year. The mutuals did not disclose the merger's terms. "As community banks face challenges that could impact their long-term sustainability, River Run provides the structure for them to not only

Discussions between WesBanco in Wheeling, W.Va., and Premier Financial in Defiance, Ohio seemingly began at the Acquire or Be Acquired conference hosted by Bank Director. The $18.1 billion-asset WesBanco agreed in July to buy the $8.8 billion-asset Premier for $959 million in a deal expected to close in the first quarter. Talks began on Jan. 27 at a banking conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., when Jeffrey Jackson, WesBanco’s president and CEO,

NASB Financial in Kansas City, Mo., will have a new leader in 2025. The parent of the $2.8 billion-asset North American Savings Bank said in a press release that Tom Wagers will retire in January. He will be succeeded by Enrique Venegas, who was recently promoted to serve as president. Wagers will remain on the board as NASB and its bank. Venegas, who joined NASB in 2013, was the company's

The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance approved Fiserv’s application for a special banking charter that gives it direct access to card networks. The Brookfield, Wis., payments company, by obtaining the merchant acquirer limited purpose bank charter, no longer needs to partner with banks to process credit card transactions. The charter gives Fiserv the right to authorize, settle and clear payment transactions for merchants. Fiserv, which applied for the charter

Territorial Bancorp in Honolulu, which is facing pressure from an unsolicited offer, has postponed a shareholder vote for its pending sale to Hope Bancorp in Los Angeles. The $2.2 billion-asset company said in a press release that it will move the meeting from Oct. 10 to Nov. 6 to give its board and management time "to continue discussions with stockholders regarding" the agreement with Hope. Territorial's board said it continues to

Education First Federal Credit Union in Beaumont, Texas, has a new CEO. Urjit Patel announced on his LinkedIn account that he had also become president of the $tk billion-asset credit union. Patel, who had been acting president and CEO, previously served as the credit union's chief operating officer.

OneAZ Credit Union in Phoenix has agreed to buy 1st Bank of Yuma in Arizona. The $3.6 billion-asset credit union said in a press release that it will by substantially all of the $600 million-asset bank's assets and liabilities from Western Arizona Bancorp in a cash transaction. The price wasn't disclosed. The deal is expected to close by mid-2025. “OneAZ is taking a bold step toward fulfilling our commitment to

Coastal Financial in Everett, Wash., has a new president for its fintech and Banking-as-a-Service division. The $4 billion-asset company said in a press release that it bifurcated the bank president role by appointing Brian Hamilton, a Coastal director, to lead CCBX. Curt Queyrouze, president of the company and the bank, will serve as president of the community bank division. “As Coastal focuses on growing CCBX, we continuously seek out individuals