Bank News: Chime buys Stride, EverBank & Circle M&A, Block, Mercury, & FOMO!

Bank News: Chime to buy Stride for $590 million. Chime outgrew their partner model. Will the Chime deal lead to further fintech-bank competition? EverBank to purchase WaFd in a reverse merger for an approximate cost of $3.9 billion. Does this merger have execution risk? John Marshall Bancorp to purchase in-state peer Eagle Financial Services for $253 million. Finward Bancorp considered 7 different merger partners before accepting First Financial bid. Circle buying Tazapay for approximately $400 million. Bank7 wins auction to purchase 71% of Century Financial. Trustmark bank sells 34 branches to Blue Owl Real Estate Capital in sale-leaseback deal valued at $91.7 million. The founders of Georgia Skyline Bank, a new De Novo in Georgia, have decided to recapitalize Highland Community Bank in Virginia as a faster path to growth and profitability. Mercury received conditional approval for deposit insurance from the FDIC. Block has applied for a National Trust Bank charter through the OCC. United Bancorporation of Alabama is fighting back against activist investors. The Federal Reserve and Governor Bowman are sued by Better Markets over capital-requirements process. GAO report on banks support or nonsupport of cannabis industry. Banks fear of missing out is fueling their AI spending. This episode reviewed multiple articles from Banking Dive and S&P Global Market Intelligence (subscription required)