Ameris Bancorp has settled Department of Justice claims that the Atlanta company violated fair lending laws in Jacksonville, Fla., from 2016 to 2021. The $25.8 billion-asset Ameris said in a press release that its bank agreed to a consent order and will provide $7.5 million of mortgage subsidies over the next five years in majority Black and Hispanic markets. The bank also committed $900,000 for focused advertising and outreach and

F.N.B. Corp. in Pittsburgh reported higher earnings despite fully charging off a large commercial loan. The $45 billion-asset company said in a press release that its earnings rose by 2% from the second quarter and by 5.8% from a year earlier, to $143.3 million. The third quarter loan-loss provision included $18.8 million tied to a $31.9 million loan that was plagued by alleged fraud. F.N.B. downgraded the loan to nonperforming

Guaranty Capital in Belzoni, Miss., has agreed to buy Lafayette Bancorp in Oxford, Miss. The $2.3 billion-asset Guaranty said in a press release that it expects to complete its purchase of the $245 million-asset parent of Oxford University Bank in the first quarter. The price wasn’t disclosed. “We are pleased to partner with Oxford University Bank, a well-respected bank serving the Oxford and Pontotoc communities,” Hue Townsend, Guaranty’s president and

BankTech Ventures, an investment fund backed by several community banks, disclosed that it has invested $13.5 million in six fintechs over the second half of 2023. $5 million in BillGo, which enables real-time customer bill pay $2.5 million in Vero Technologies, which helps bank offer wholesale finance to inventory-based businesses $2 million in Finosec, which improves financial institutions’ IT governance, audit and exam readiness $2 million in Micronotes, which uses

MainStreet Bancshares in Fairfax, Va., has debuted its Software-as-a-Service platform after signing its first client. The $1.9 billion-asset company said in a press release that its Avenu division is working to assist SafariPay with a product that allows for money transfers to people in Africa, the UK, the European Union and the Middle East. SafariPay estimates its customers will maintain aggregated balances of roughly $4 million on its PaySii platform.

Plumas Bancorp in Reno, Nev., will discontinue its dealer loan program. The $1.6 billion-asset company said in a press release that it decided to exit the business due to long-term challenges tied to high interest rates, increasing compliance requirements and the need to update technology. Plumas said that increasing expenses for the business outweighed the benefits of having a “unique, short-duration credit portfolio.” The company reassigned personnel where possible and

Mercantile Bank Corp. in Grand Rapids, Mich., is set to have a new CEO. The $5.2 billion-asset company said in a press release that Raymond Reitsma will also become its president on June 1. Reitsma, Mercantile’s, chief operating officer, will succeed Robert Kaminski, who is retiring. Kaminski will remain on the company’s board. “The management succession process is an ongoing responsibility which is very important to our board, and reflects

Taichung Commercial Bank in Taipei, Taiwan, and American Continental Bancorp in City of Industry, Calif., have terminated their planned merger. TCB agreed in September 2022 to buy the parent of the $357 million-asset American Continental Bank for $82 million. TCB will pay American Continental $500,000. American Continental “will continue to explore strategic alternatives that it believes will provide strategic value to its shareholders," the bank said in a separate press