It’s Christmas Eve and many are already off for a well-deserved holiday. But before I get away for a holiday break, here’s the final wrap-up of 2015 of the week’s top stories on mergers, fintech, marketing, etc. from my Twitter feed:
![happy holidays from Market Insights]()
Trending
Proud to be a part of the crowdsource panel of global financial services leaders that shared thoughts for the report https://t.co/keSHxToZ9a
— Jim Perry (@mi_jim) December 21, 2015
Mergers, Acquisition – Expansion, Consolidation
- Oak Valley Bank completes acquisition of Mother Lode Bank http://bit.ly/1IswUTx
- Investors sue NewBridge Bank over merger w/Yadkin Financial http://bit.ly/1Zp55zy
- Two NE Wisconsin community banks (State Bank of Chilton & Calumet County Bank) to merge http://bit.ly/22pVYBi
- 3 community banks in potential acquisition spotlight http://bit.ly/1QX06Da 85+% of banks w/$5B+ assets expect to do a deal in 2016
- PA’s First National Bank receives final regulatory approval for acquisition of 17 @FifthThird branches http://prn.to/1YAWNCw
- In Fond du Lac, WI, Hometown Bank and Farmers Exchange to merge http://fondul.ac/1OIkWSi
- Bay Bank: $23.8M Hopkins acquisition adds scale, geography http://bit.ly/22n67yq
- Firefighters Credit Union opened its new branch office last week in Onalaska, WI http://bit.ly/1YreABo
- Professional Holding Corp. to acquire FirstCity Bank of Commerce http://cnnmon.ie/1Mr1vLY
- For banking industry, 2015 was the year of the merger http://bit.ly/1kcfSxl
Branch Evolution
- Branch banking system changes will continue in 2016 http://onforb.es/1JvlrgW | @RohitBiz2Credit for @Forbes
Marketing & Branding
Looking to 2016: #BankSocial Media Conference, April 7-8 https://t.co/0HgzmYs3cb & @FinancialBrand Forum, May 16-18 https://t.co/SF7A4YoAMz
— Jim Perry (@mi_jim) December 24, 2015
- Students to get $55M over deceptive college banking practices http://on.mktw.net/1U5inxu
- Can @dbsbank make banking joyful? http://onforb.es/1Ik4mf1 | @jonathansalem for @Forbes
Mobile & Digital Transformation
- Digital Engagement: @Citi tracked an impressive 8,466% increase in engagement promoting their Platinum Select card http://bit.ly/1QO3gut
- Best #mobile banking apps? @Chase, @PenFed top @magnify_money list http://bit.ly/1gqcNbG Surprisingly @umpquabank cited as worst overall.
- .@Tomgroenfeldt writes about @Ohpen — An All-Cloud Banking Platform Is Growing http://onforb.es/1U0dwhh | @Forbes
- Digital delivers for Solarity Credit Union in Yakima, WA. CU now a top home mortgage lender http://bit.ly/1OhFJvr
Fintech
- Global financial services firm @KPMG includes biometrics in new #fintech challenge http://bit.ly/1OkUT9w
- Linux Foundation announces Bitcoin Blockchain initiative to develop new #fintech applications. http://bit.ly/1J1I3uw
Industry News
Nearly 4 in 10 Americans haven’t visited a bank branch in 6 months https://t.co/oITjWuuXlk | @Bankrate pic.twitter.com/JCwdzJ3xfh
— Jim Perry (@mi_jim) December 22, 2015
- From @Jim_Edwards at @businessinsider: A bank (@BankofAmerica @MerrillLynch) persuaded Twitter to delete my tweets http://read.bi/1mhkh3k
- Former CEO of VA’s Winchester Community Federal Credit Union pleads guilty to stealing $1M http://bit.ly/1Jxb38m | @CookeonCUs
- Community banks may be ‘Too Small to Succeed’ in the current banking environment http://bit.ly/1QJSsOi | @deenazaidi for @TheStreet
- Ohio man gets 25 years for role in St. Paul Croatian Federal Credit Union’s collapse http://abcn.ws/1mzZhoW
- In pot-friendly Colorado, there is a high demand for banking services http://bit.ly/1QHpxdK
- Hundreds of WI’s Guardian Credit Union members have fallen victim to skimming http://bit.ly/1YymmEb
- Jay Jenkins, w/@themotleyfool, looks at how banking changed in 2015 http://bit.ly/1YvJyCV
- .@SSWorks Executive Director, @alaw202, another advocate for postal banking http://huff.to/1JlKYJw
That’s all for this week (and this year). Please share this with your colleagues. If we missed an important story, drop me a note. Thanks for following!