A tornado with winds of up to 170 miles per hour hit Harrisburg, Ill., during the early hours of Feb. 29. The tornado ripped a swath 200 yards wide as it passed through the southern side of this town of 900 people. [Continue]
Despite a changing landscape in the health insurance benefits arena, the region’s largest banks are reporting growth in their health savings accounts. [Continue]
A thrifty purchase added the proverbial icing on the cake to 2011 for Points West Community Bank of Julesburg, Colo. Last July, Points West purchased Signature Bank, Windsor, Colo., from the FDIC. [Continue]
OCC uses stage to advocate for its interests During his general session presentation at the ICBA convention, Acting Comptroller John Walsh defended his agency against the notion that state banking departments understand smaller banks better than they do, and against a congressional effort to create an additional appeals process for exams. Walsh promoted the value … Read more
M&A expert summarizes industry conditions. [Continue]
Community bankers have what customers want [Continue]
Are banks ready to give up cash? [Continue]
How well do you know your competition? I don’t mean the credit union down the street or the bank across town, I mean one of these: Manilla.com; Mint.com; Pageonce.com; Serve.com; Boku.com; Zong.com; Prosper.com; Kabbage.com or Squareup.com. If you haven’t heard of any of these services, I encourage you to go to your computer right now … Read more
Industry earnings improving Banks made $26.3 billion in the fourth quarter, according to the FDIC. This is the 10th consecutive quarter that earnings have registered a year-over-year increase. Sixty-three percent of banks reported improvements in earnings in the fourth quarter compared to a year earlier. The average return on assets rose to 0.76 percent, from … Read more
Eide Bailly and Wipfli called off their proposed merger on Feb. 24. [Continue]