Bank channel

A retired executive at Yadkin Financial resigned last week in a dispute over the Elkin, N.C., company's growth strategy.

A lot has changed since 1946 when the character from "It's a Wonderful Life" was running a small-town bank. But the perils Bailey faced are, in many ways, similar to those community banks are grappling with today.

Buoyed by its success on the West Coast, Operation Hope is partnering with the likes of SunTrust and Popular Community Bank to set up its financial literacy centers in such cities as Memphis, Atlanta, Washington and New York.

Susquehanna Bancshares is doing a sale-leaseback of 30 branches to improve its capital planning. But over the long term, and more importantly to the industry overall, it could also help the bank get out of branches that may one day become obsolete.

The question triggers a whole array of responses. But after a five-year onslaught of new rules and enforcement, some see a brighter regulatory future for banks.

Valley National Bank in Wayne, N.J., is joining the trend toward self-service banking with a plan to upgrade the technology at most of its 204 branches over the next five years.

Huntington Bancshares in Columbus, Ohio, plans to close nine branches after its acquisition of Camco Financial in Cambridge, Ohio.

A man dressed in Kris Kringle's trademark snowy beard and red stocking cap robbed a SunTrust branch in Port Orange, Fla., on Monday.

Banks that want to expand via M&A will face a special challenge in 2014. The failed-bank market has quieted, but regulatory costs and other factors that are expected to drive open-bank M&A haven't coalesced quite yet, says bank M&A advisor Randy Dennis.

JPMorgan Chase is strictly limiting the debit card use of shoppers who used Chase debit cards at Target during the data breach that happened Nov. 27 to Dec. 15.

In her final column for American Banker, Editor-at-Large Barbara Rehm says there is no denying the system is safer than it was in 2007, and while further changes may be needed, it makes sense to "take a breather."

This time last year American Banker predicted six types of deals that would predominate in 2013. We were right about some things (more mergers of equals), wrong about others (lots of tiny banks would sell), and partly correct in some cases. Here's our self-critique.

In the space of just a few hours, regulators issued -- and banks condemned -- guidance meant to clarify the impact of the Volcker rule on small institutions.

For years, bankers have bemoaned the looming death of the traditional bank branch. Now it looks like it’s actually starting to happen. Finally.

During the first three quarters of 2013, the programs generated $427.8 million in revenue, the most they’ve produced since 2007.

Reliance on branches has declined as people conduct more business through digital channels such as online and mobile banking, pushing community banks to take a harder look at digital offerings.

While the landscape for low-cost fund options for do-it-yourselfers is expanding, John Bogle, founder and retired CEO of the Vanguard Group, believes DIY product offerings are too often inappropriate for long-term investors, who are at risk of being led astray.

The firm hired five directors in Chicago, Seattle and Palm Beach Gardens as part of its campaign to boost its sales force and professional staff.

UBS AG, the world’s largest wealth manager, said clients are shifting money to be managed directly by the bank or pay for advice in a reversal of previous outflows after it revamped services to boost profitability.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Friday closed Texas Community Bank, a $160 million-asset institution located north of Houston.