Ally Financial in Charlotte, N.C., has agreed to sell its credit card business to CardWorks in Woodbury, N.J. Ally said in a press release that the sale to the parent of Merrick Bank includes about $2.3 billion in credit card receivables and 1.3 million active cardholders. The deal is expected to close later this year. The sale "is part of our broader strategy to pursue a more focused approach, enabling

Civista Bancshares in Sandusky, Ohio, has a new bank president. The $4.1 billion-asset company said in a press release that Charles Parcher will remain its chief lending officer. He succeeded Dennis Shaffer, who is still the company's president and CEO and the bank's CEO. "This change reflects Civista’s succession plan, a hallmark of a successful organization with sustained longevity as we enter our 141st year," Shaffer said in the release. "Chuck’s

Pathward Financial in Sioux Falls, S.D., made the most of selling a business by shedding underperforming securities during the last quarter of 2024. The $7.6 billion-asset company said in a press release that it sold $160.6 million of debt securities in late November at a $15.7 million pretax loss. A month earlier, the company sold substantially all of the assets and liabilities of its commercial insurance premium finance business for a

Old National Bancorp in Evansville, Ind., disclosed that its president is retiring. The $54 billion-asset company said in a press release that Mark Sander will also step down as chief operating officer on June 30. He joined the company after its 2022 acquisition of First Midwest Bancorp, where he was president and COO. "It has been my privilege to work alongside Mark Sander over the past several years," Jim Ryan,

Guilford Savings Bank in Guilford, Conn., has applied with regulators to acquire Eastern Connecticut Savings Bank in Norwich, Conn. The $1.1 billion-asset GSB agreed in November to buy the $264 million-asset Eastern Connecticut Savings. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter. Kyle Eagleson, GSB's president, will succeed Timothy Geelan as CEO in March. Lisa Griffin, Eastern Connecticut Savings' president and CEO, will serve as market president for

Hancock Whitney in Gulfport, Miss., has agreed to buy Sabal Trust Co. in St. Petersburg, Fla. Hancock Whitney did not disclose what it will pay for the non-depository company, which has about $3 billion in assets under management. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to Hancock Whitney's earnings per share. "This transaction is an excellent strategic opportunity to

Patriot National Bancorp in Stamford, Conn., which is evaluating strategic options that could include its potential sale, is now operating under a written agreement with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency that labeled its bank as being in a "troubled condition." The $974.1 million-asset company disclosed in a regulatory filing that it must create a compliance committee by Jan. 31 to make sure it addresses the written agreement.

SouthEast Bank in Farragut, Tenn., will pay $1.5 million to settle claims by the Justice Department that it engaged in lending discrimination by disproportionately discouraging and denying Black and Native American graduates who were seeking to refinance their student loans. The agency's complaint, which was in the Eastern District of Tennessee, alleged that the $2.9 billion-asset bank's discriminatory practices took place between December 2015 and April 2021. The investigation originated