Midland States Bancorp in Effingham, Ill., has agreed to buy deposits and loans from FNBC Bank & Trust in La Grange, Ill. The $7.1 billion-asset company said in press release Wednesday that it will buy $86 million of deposits and $26 million of loans tied to branches in Mokena and Yorkville, Ill. Midland States will also buy the Mokena branch. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter. The deposits being

Another bank merger is facing a delay tied to pending regulatory approval. Executives at Community Bank System in DeWitt, N.Y., said during a conference call to discuss quarterly earnings that they expect the acquisition of Elmira Savings Bank to close in May. The companies originally forecast a first-quarter completion. The revised guidance resulting from “the progress and the dialogue with regulators," Mark Tryniski, Community Bank System’s president and CEO, said during the

Customers Bancorp in West Reading, Pa., will let its deposit servicing agreement with BM Technologies lapse at the end of this year. The $19.6 billion-asset company said in a press release Monday that the agreement, tied to its January 2021 divestiture of BankMobile Technologies, will save it about $60 million a year.Customers expects about $1.8 billion of deposits serviced by BM Technologies to run off by Dec. 31. The company

Zions Bancorp. in Salt Lake City is close to opening a new corporate technology center. The $93 billion-asset company said in a press release Monday that it should occupy the building in mid-2022. The move allowed Zions to consolidate and sell a number of bank-owned facilities. The sales were largely responsible for $12 million in “other income” recording during the fourth quarter. Zions announced plans in May 2020 for the 400,000-square-foot facility

New York Community Bancorp in Hicksville, N.Y., has committed $28 billion of loans, investments and other financial support to underserved communities as part of its planned purchase of Flagstar Bancorp in Troy, Mich. The $58 billion-asset New York Community said in a Monday press release that it had made the pledge as part of an agreement with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. The agreement includes $21.7 billion of community lending and affordable-housing commitments

Republic First Bancorp in Philadelphia is delaying plans to raise more capital. Executives of the $5.6 billion-asset company made the disclosure during a Thursday conference call to discuss fourth-quarter results. “As the quarter progressed, we made the decision that it would be in the best interest of not only the bank but our shareholders to do that raise at a time that would be most optable from a stock price perspective,” Frank

H&R Block in Kansas City, Mo., has created a challenger bank. The tax preparation company said in a press release Thursday that it had launched Spruce, a mobile banking platform that will include a spending account with a debit card. Meta Financial’s MetaBank is providing the banking products for Spruce, which will look to address the needs of underserved markets. “Spruce is a financial technology platform that combines the best features of leading

Sterling Bancorp in Southfield, Mich., has implemented numerous governance measures to resolve a shareholder demand for change. The $3.1 billion-asset company said in a press release Friday that the settlement of the July 2020 shareholder action will also include payment of the shareholder’s attorneys’ fees and expenses in exchange for the release of all defendants from all alleged claims.Sterling noted that it had appointed three independent directors since July 28, adding