Writer: Mara Gawarecki

First National of Nebraska is filing an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to combine its Nebraska and South Dakota banking affiliates into one charter. [Continue]

Waterstone Financial, Inc., of Wauwatosa, Wis., has appointed Allan Hosack as chief financial officer and senior vice president. Hosack replaces Richard C. Larson as CFO. [Continue]

First Interstate BancSystem, Inc., of Billings, Mont., has reached an agreement to acquire Helena, Mont.-based Mountain West Financial and its subsidiary bank. [Continue]

Midwest financial institutions tend to offer lower rates for savings accounts, according to a study by GOBankingRates, an online aggregator. The company ranked all 50 states and the District of Columbia according to the average savings account interest rates of their banks and credit unions. [Continue]

The upper Midwest ended 2013 with 382 fewer bank branches than at the beginning of the year. Only two states in the region experienced positive branch growth in that time. [Continue]

The Iowa Division of Banking has awarded $95,000 in financial literacy grants to the Iowa Bankers Association and TS Bank Institute. [Continue]

Banks can no longer rely on trimming costs and declining loan loss expenses for their earnings, but must turn to information technology resources to generate revenue in the future, Brian Stephens says. [Continue]

The Minnesota Bankers Association has honored 17 of the state’s banks for their community involvement through its Community Champion recognition program. [Continue]

First Federal of Northern Michigan Bancorp, Inc., and Alpena Banking Corporation, both of Alpena, Mich., have announced the merger of the two companies and their subsidiary community banking institutions. [Continue]

Ameriana Bancorp of New Castle, Ind., has named several new officers after its current chief risk officer
announced his retirement earlier this month. [Continue]