A pair of credit unions have changed names. Arizona Federal Credit Union in Phoenix has rebranded as Arizona Financial Credit Union. The $2.8 billion-asset credit union’s members voted in April to switch its federal charter for a state charter. The charter switch will allow Arizona Financial to expand beyond Tucson and Maricopa and Pinal counties. “With this change, we were required to remove ‘federal’ from our name – and ‘financial’ made perfect sense,” the

United Community Banks in Greenville, S.C., has tapped an insider to become its next state president for Tennessee.The $24 billion-asset company said in a press release that John Wilson had succeeded DeVan Ard, who passed away in June. DeVan Ard, who founded Reliant Bank in Brentwood, Tenn., orchestrated its sale in January to United Community. Wilson had been Reliant's president."Due to [Ard's] capable leadership and his team of talented bankers, Reliant received many

Lake Shore Bancorp in Dunkirk, N.Y., will be making some internal improvements after its bank entered into a written agreement with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The agreement, included in a Tuesday regulatory filing by the $707 million-asset company, said the OCC "found unsafe or unsound" practices tied to IT security and controls and IT risk governance.As a result, the bank must ensure that it has “competent management

The American Bankers Association has a new leader for its Office of Innovation. The association said in a press release that Brooke Ybarra was also named senior vice president of innovation and strategy. Her role includes identifying promising startups and emerging technologies that could benefit the banking industry. “Brooke has impressed all of us with her understanding of the banking innovation marketplace and the challenges banks face in staying on the cutting

Smaller banks are starting to reduce and eliminate overdraft and nonsufficient funds (NSF) fees. The latest community bank to act is 1st Colonial Bancorp in Cherry Hill, N.J. The $698 million-asset company said in a press release that, effective June 1, reduced its overdraft and NSF fees from $35 to $15. The company said overdraft fees will only apply to transactions that result in an overdraft balance greater than $50 at the

M&T Bank in Buffalo, N.Y., has a new leader for its charitable foundation. Dominique Goss was named executive director of the M&T Charitable Foundation. She now oversees M&T's corporate giving strategy over 12 states.Goss reports to Mike Keegan, M&T's head of community banking. She is based in Buffalo. Goss previously served as senior group manager for corporate citizenship at TD Bank's charitable foundation. Goss "is a progressive philanthropic leader whose extensive experience in

An activist investor is pressing Peoples Financial in Biloxi, Miss., to “explore all possibilities to maximize shareholder value.”Stilwell Partners, which owns about 11.2% of the $939 million-asset company’s stock, has taken issue with management decisions in recent years. The New York investor tends to push banks to maximize value by selling. Stilwell noted in its filing that it has tried unsuccessfully in 2021 and 2022 to have its nominees elected to

A proposed bank in Katy, Texas, has received conditional approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.  The FDIC on Jan. 7 approved deposit insurance for Texas Traditions Bank. Organizers, who initially filed with the FDIC in January, will need to raise about $35 million before the bank can open. Organizers have said they plan to open a second branch in the Webster area.A public notice submitted earlier this year listed 10 organizers: