Forget the Super Bowl controversy…this weekly wrap-up is anything but under-inflated. Take a look at this weekly recap from my Twitter feed (top stories have been highlighted in bold):
Trending
John Adams for @BankTechNews: Western Union’s ApplePay move should light a fire under banks http://t.co/4X5e0EUbGs pic.twitter.com/4MxMhSDKVh
— Jim Perry (@mi_jim) January 29, 2015
Mergers, Acquisition – Expansion, Consolidation
- New law affects Massachusetts credit union branching http://bit.ly/1BDcFLB
- C1 Bank’s branch moves, 4 other takeaways from a call with the CEO Trevor Burgess http://bit.ly/1DmZQ7U
- Ameris Bank to acquire M&S Bank in $50M deal + add 18 branches from BofA, greatly expanding FL & GA market presence http://bit.ly/1zG6fh2
- FirstMerit Bank closing 16 branches, including 7 in Ohio http://bit.ly/1LkGAh3
- Stockman Bank to build multistory branch in downtown Missoula, MT http://bit.ly/1Cg4zLw
- In Tennessee, United Community Banks and MoneyTree announce merger agreement http://bit.ly/1BnI4Pf
- In Ohio, the holding companies of Farmers National Bank & First National Bank of Orrville have agreed to merge http://bit.ly/1CM0qOB
- Detroit, MI gets its first FirstMerit Bank branch http://bit.ly/1ux37wv
- Bank of America expands into 2 new states (CO,MN), even as it cuts branches elsewhere http://bit.ly/1DcTjwq
- Huntington Bank to take over Chase locations in Michigan’s Meijer http://on.freep.com/1JVEZKS
- Oregonians Credit Union closing longtime branch in downtown Portland http://bit.ly/1GYxxT7
- CitizensFirst merging with La Crosse credit union http://post.cr/1C6iaoA
- Independent Bank Corp. announces 6 branch closings across Michigan – expect to save $1.6M/year, improve bottom line http://bit.ly/1JhlNca
- Merger complete for Illinois Bank & Trust and it’s sister bank, Galena State Bank http://bit.ly/1GYqidQ
- St. Paul-based Bremer Bank wraps up Eastwood acquisition – all 13 Eastwood branches reopen as @BremerBank today http://bit.ly/15BXVRG
Branch Evolution
- Citizens Bank testing new branch design concept http://bit.ly/1Bx8bWN
- Branch banking continues shift from transactions to interactions http://bit.ly/15Hk4xQ : @JimMarous/@FinancialBrand
- Inspire Federal Credit Union recently completed a major branch renovation, part of a year-long effort to rebrand. http://bit.ly/1JsKUsE
Marketing & Branding
- AL Telco rebrands as @avadiancu http://bit.ly/1647lGp “There is no defined meaning for it, and we like it that way.”
- Eco-Banking: the education and influence behind Florida’s @FirstGREENBank http://onforb.es/1HqsfAb via @Forbes
- FirstBank capitalizes on pop culture again: jumps on #DeflateGate for Super Bowl advertising http://bit.ly/1y2XoQs
- “Why social media marketing is failing in financial services: 1) poor execution, & 2) wrong strategic context” @rshevlin via @FinancialBrand
Mobile & Digital Transformation
- Knox Payments’ @charlestm on “Why FinTech Has a First Mile Problem” http://sumo.ly/4vvx via @FinTechJournal
- Cyber attack not behind recent BB&T banking issues http://bit.ly/1Cj3P8B
- The app gap is growing: Chase and Bank of America dropping Windows Phone http://zd.net/1zG5uVm
- Apple sold a record 74.5M iPhones in the latest Qtr http://slate.me/15UP5hH Any doubt that consumers expectations of their bank will change?
- Online-only Number26 (@number26de) could be the best banking experience in Europe – @romaindillet at @TechCrunch http://tcrn.ch/1CJPcds
- UK-based mobile payments and banking firm Monitise has put itself up for sale. http://bit.ly/1JGirj0
- ‘Silver Surfers’ (people 70+ yo) in UK are topping mobile and online banking growth charts http://bit.ly/1DgkDdm via @pymnts
- Big banks report steady increases in mobile banking http://bit.ly/1HbLBIZ
- South Carolina Federal Credit Union temporarily disables online banking system http://bit.ly/1z5ysKP
- Google Chairman Eric Schmidt at the World Economic Forum said “the Internet will disappear” http://bit.ly/1wxEzTD
- On @TransferWise $1B valuation: “the financial industry has remained relatively untouched by technology” http://read.bi/1BroLqT
Industry News
- Report estimates Pacific Northwest credit unions have $6.8B regional impact http://bit.ly/1648RZ2
- The State of Banking in 2015: @Gallup‘s Banking Experts Weigh In http://bit.ly/1Bys2Cp via @BethYoura
- Qatar buys London’s banking district http://cnnmon.ie/1Cglyxs
- This week’s East Coast winter storm closed many banks & credit unions. I wonder how many customers noticed.
- Anheuser-Busch Employees’ Credit Union names new CEO http://bit.ly/1Lh1u0u
- Former bank regulator suggests de-risking directives are causing collateral damage to faith-based organizations http://bit.ly/1EoOtju
- New Mexico Educators Federal Credit Union is giving dividends through “Earn Your Return” based on combined balances http://bit.ly/1Bjg7Iu
- Don’t miss @rshevlin‘s post in @FinancialBrand: The New Product Development Dilema in Banking http://bit.ly/1C68KJO
That’s all for this week. Please share this with your colleagues. If we missed an important story, drop me a note.
And to my Seattle-based colleagues: Go Seahawks!