Grasshopper lines up new executives amid lending push

The $867.5 million-asset digital bank added a slew of new lending executives this week, as the lender seeks to jump off loan growth that's come in part from its embedded finance business.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • March 19, 2025

UK’s OakNorth to acquire Michigan community bank

The London-based digital bank will buy Community Unity Bank to get a U.S.-based charter and gain a toehold among lower mid-market businesses.

By Rajashree Chakravarty • March 19, 2025

Explore the Trendline➔

Top 5 stories from Banking Dive

Since the approval of Capital One’s acquisition of Discover, banks have increasingly waded into new deals. Beyond that, they’ve doubled down on strategy, from organic growth to branch placement to app design.

By Banking Dive staff

Atlanta-area banks to combine in $206M deal

MetroCity’s acquisition of crosstown rival First IC, also focused on serving Korean-American businesses, will create a bank with $4.8 billion in assets, the lenders said.

By Dan Ennis • March 19, 2025

Fintech SmartBiz buys Illinois bank

Initially, the fintech considered obtaining its own charter, but decided it made more sense to find a lender open to acquisition that could complement SmartBiz’s strengths, said CEO Evan Singer.

By Caitlin Mullen • March 18, 2025

Northern Trust exec: Crypto rule changes may ease tokenization

Biden-era anti-crypto regulations didn’t just affect volatile digital assets. They also affected firms offering traditional assets, like bonds, on the blockchain.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • March 17, 2025

Fed OKs Renasant, EverBank acquisitions

The central bank issued two approvals Friday, allowing two Mississippi banks to merge in a $1.2 billion deal, and EverBank to acquire components of Sterling Bank for $261 million. Both deals are set to close April 1.

By Caitlin Mullen • March 17, 2025

Fed drops enforcement action against Lake Shore Savings Bank

The central bank terminated its enforcement action last week, about three months after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency dropped its consent order against the lender.

By Rajashree Chakravarty • March 14, 2025

Webster eyes $100B threshold, invests in hiring and tech

The Connecticut-based bank aims to hire about 200 people this year, including adding about two dozen technology and cybersecurity employees, Webster’s CIO said.

By Caitlin Mullen • March 14, 2025

CIBC CEO Victor Dodig to retire in October

Harry Culham, the lender’s capital-markets chief, will succeed Dodig at the helm of Canada’s fifth-largest bank.

By Dan Ennis • March 13, 2025

NYDFS chief details changes spurred by Signature failure

The regulator implemented new escalation protocols and an operational stress testing exercise to keep a closer eye on the “C students” under its watch, Adrienne Harris said Tuesday.

By Caitlin Mullen • March 12, 2025

Wells Fargo sues JPMorgan over $481M CRE loan

JPMorgan failed to conduct due diligence on the commercial real estate loan, then quickly offloaded the risk, “taking home millions of dollars of fees in the process,” Wells asserted.

By Caitlin Mullen • March 11, 2025

Trump Organization accuses ‘woke’ Capital One of de-banking

The lender de-banked some 300 Trump Organization accounts because it believed “the political tide at the moment favored doing so,” a lawsuit contends. Eric Trump has suggested more big banks may be targeted.

By Caitlin Mullen • March 10, 2025

BofA eyes personalization, speedier onboarding for business clients

The team behind the bank’s CashPro platform is making tweaks and enhancements to bring more of the consumer experience to the digital business banking space, a CashPro product executive said.

By Caitlin Mullen • March 6, 2025

LA-based Hope gets regulatory nod to merge with Territorial

Hope Bancorp received regulatory approval less than a year after announcing the deal. The merger is expected to be completed at the beginning of April.

By Rajashree Chakravarty • March 4, 2025

Valley National Bank bolsters its C-suite

The New Jersey-based lender elevated its interim finance chief to CFO and named an M&T Bank veteran as its next commercial bank president.

By Caitlin Mullen • March 3, 2025

Florida serial acquirer strikes again with $110M deal

Seacoast Banking Corp. seeks to expand its footprint in central Florida by buying Heartland Bancshares in a stock and cash deal. 

By Rajashree Chakravarty • Feb. 28, 2025

KeyBank, Treasury Prime partner on embedded banking

The partnership, targeted at fintechs and institutional clients, will focus on faster revenue generation and simpler technical uplifts. 

By Rajashree Chakravarty • Feb. 27, 2025

Old Second boosts Chicago-area footprint in $197M Evergreen deal

The transaction will allow Old Second to expand into powersports lending. The deal comes six months after the bank agreed to buy five Chicago-area branches from Indiana’s First Merchants Bank.

By Dan Ennis • Feb. 26, 2025

JPMorgan to lay off 121 in NJ

The cuts are part of what was previously reported, according to a spokesperson. Hundreds of open positions remain in New Jersey.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Feb. 25, 2025

Wells Fargo targets the intersection of commercial, investment banking

Snagging investment banking business with commercial clients is an especially high priority, an executive at the bank said. Wells also wants to “be in the conversation” on clients’ M&A activity.

By Caitlin Mullen • Feb. 25, 2025

Dime hires Republic First ex-CEO Geisel

The Long Island-based bank has made a point of scooping up talent from banks that faltered in 2023 and 2024. Tom Geisel will serve as Dime’s senior executive vice president of commercial lending.

By Dan Ennis • Feb. 21, 2025

UMB embraces ‘consolidator’ role

The bank’s recent acquisition of HTLF boosted its wealth business by 32% “overnight” and doubled its branch footprint. But UMB CEO Mariner Kemper said he is taking systems conversion deliberately slowly.

By Caitlin Mullen • Feb. 20, 2025

Wells Fargo clears 10th consent order; 4 remain

The 2018 consent order issued by the OCC identified deficiencies in the bank’s enterprise-wide compliance risk management program and was tied to a $500 million penalty against the lender. 

By Rajashree Chakravarty • Feb. 18, 2025

Wells Fargo faces labor board complaint over union vote

The National Labor Relations Board alleged the lender threatened and retaliated against workers in favor of unionization at a California branch.

By Rajashree Chakravarty • Feb. 13, 2025

‘Taking stock’: BofA and JPMorgan execs weigh in on Trump 2.0

While Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan called the recent regulatory shift “classic re-engineering,” one peer exec said the changes “are taking all the oxygen in the room.”

By Caitlin Mullen • Feb. 12, 2025