Illinois bank building on two mergers

Busey Bank, Champaign, Ill., has completed its second merger of the year, most recently with South Side Trust & Savings Bank, Peoria, Ill., and one this summer with First Community Financial Bank, Joliet, Ill. [Continue]

Big shoes to fill, Lounsberry readies to lead the CBAI

Kraig Lounsberry will take over as president of the Community Bankers Association of Illinois on Jan. 1. Only one person has ever held the position, Bob Wingert for the past 43 years. Lounsberry spoke with NorthWestern Financial Review writer Douglas Farmer. [Continue]

Deposits may drive rebirth of bank clubs

In a big shift from a few years ago, deposits are again coveted by most banks. For a while, many banks were so flush with cash they actually turned away customers who had large sums of money to deposit. But today loan demand is up and other investments are competing for those deposit dollars. Note the Dow Jones Industrial Average recently topped 23,000. [Continue]

Tim Kluender named president and chief executive officer of Community Bank Owatonna

Tim Kluender has been named president and chief executive officer of Community Bank Owatonna in Owatonna, Minn. Kluender has 24 years of banking experience, with the last 15 years in an executive management capacity. He has spent his entire career working in the community banking industry, beginning as an officer trainee in his hometown bank in Osceola, Iowa. Kluender most recently served as a senior vice president/chief credit officer for First National Bank in Fairfield, Iowa. [Continue]

Opportunity finds opportunity in Montana

Opportunity Bank of Montana, Helena, will acquire Ruby Valley Bank, Twin Bridges, Mont. According to FDIC records the acquisition of the $90 million Ruby Valley will make Opportunity the fifth-largest Montana-based bank with $800 million in assets. Ruby Valley has two branches — Twin Bridges and Sheridan — and the combined company will have 16 branches. [Continue]

CFPB finalizes payday lending rule

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has finalized its payday lending rule, creating “strong, common-sense protections” to prevent “financially vulnerable consumers” from falling into “payday debt traps,” the bureau said. [Continue]

Financial literacy remains focus for Wisconsin EVP

Jenny Jakel has been a part of AbbyBank for 41 years, a period in which the Abbotsford, Wis., bank has grown to $458 million from $13 million. Yet, Jakel’s preferred focus does not involve any discussion of profits. For that matter, it hardly deals with AbbyBank’s current customers. [Continue]