Liberty Bank in Middletown, Conn., has launched a digital-only bank. The $7 billion-asset bank said in a press release that Owners Bank debuted on Monday. Owners will focus primarily on small business owners. The digital bank will be initially available to customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island prior to a national rollout. Liberty planned to debut the bank in 2021 but faced Covid-related delays. Services include invoicing, bill

BancFirst in Oklahoma City plans to buy a branch from RCB Bank in Claremore, Okla. The $12.4 billion-asset BancFirst applied with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to buy the branch, located in Stroud, Okla., according to a legal notice tied to the application. The branch had $15 million of deposits in mid-2022, according to FDIC data. BancFirst is already the biggest bank in Lincoln County, where the branch is located,

Pinnacle Financial Partners in Nashville, Tenn., was able to play offense and defense in the wake of two high-profile bank failures last month. The $45 billion-asset Pinnacle identified about $200 million of new deposits that came from Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, Terry Turner, the company’s president and CEO, said during a conference call to discuss quarterly results. Pinnacle also empowered its employees to have proactive conversations with its

Goldman Sachs Group in New York could look to sell GreenSky, a fintech it bought about year ago for more than $2.2 billion. While GreenSky, which lends to homeowners through home improvement contractors, is a “good business” that is "performing well with first-quarter originations," Goldman CEO David Solomon said the business might not fit well with plans to scale back in retail banking. "Given our current strategic priorities … we

First Horizon in Memphis, Tenn., is being tight-lipped about the status of its pending sale to TD Bank. The $81 billion-asset company said in its earnings release that the $13.4 billion deal is unlikely to secure regulatory approval before an already adjusted May 27 deadline. The release stated that TD “cannot provide a new projected closing date” and that there are “no further updates at this time.” Overall, the commentary

Nicolet Bankshares in Green Bay, Wis., reported a quarterly loss after repositioning its balance sheet. The $8.2 billion-asset company said in a press release that it lost $9 million in the first quarter, a reversal of the $24 million profit it reported a year earlier. Nicolet said it sold U.S. Treasury held-to-maturity securities with a par value of $500 million on March 7 at a pretax loss of $38 million.

The Independent Community Bankers of America has identified six fintechs to join its latest cohort. The latest ThinkTECH Accelerator program will begin on April 24. It is the first of two accelerators planned this year as the ICBA shifts to year-round programming. Three fintechs are focused on deposit-based products and services. CNote helps banks invest capital into underserved communities, while Micronotes is a cloud-based company that uses data to let

AmeriServ Financial in Johnstown, Pa., reported lower net income after absorbing a $926,000 hit from a subordinated debt investment in the failed Signature Bank.   The $1.3 billion-asset AmeriServ said in a press release that its first-quarter net income fell by 37% from a year earlier, to $1.5 million.   A big reason for the decrease was a roughly $1.2 billion loan-loss provision that included the hit from the Signature