Wheatland bank parent

to acquire Idaho bank

Glacier Bancorp Inc. has agreed to acquire Bank of Idaho Holding Co., a transaction that's expected to lead to further growth for Spokane-based Wheatland Bank and Coeur d'Alene-based Mountain West Bank.

The $254 million acquisition is expected to be completed during this year's second quarter. The boards of both Glacier Bancorp and Bank of Idaho have approved the transaction, which now awaits regulatory approval.

Upon finalization of the transaction, Bank of Idaho's Eastern Washington branches will join Wheatland Bank, which is a division of Glacier. Those branches are located in the Washington cities of Pasco, Richland, Dayton, Sunnyside, and Yakima.

In a press release, Wheatland President and CEO Sue Horton says, "Bank of Idaho’s footprint complements Wheatland’s and will deepen our penetration in existing markets and give us a great presence in new markets we had targeted for expansion."

Similarly, the four Bank of Idaho branches in the Boise area will become part of Mountain West, also a division of Glacier.

The remaining branches in eastern Idaho will become part of Glacier's Citizens Community Bank division.

Headquartered in Idaho Falls, Bank of Idaho had $1.3 billion in total assets and $1 billion in total deposits as of Sept. 30.

For Glacier Bancorp, the transaction is expected to be its 26th since 2000 and its 12th in the past 10 years. The Kalispell, Montana-based company reports total assets of $28.2 billion.

ICCU begins work

on Tri-Cities branches

Work is underway on Chubbuck, Idaho-based Idaho Central Credit Union’s first three Tri-Cities, Washington-area branches, which are set to open late this year or in early 2026.

Idaho Central Credit Union previously expanded to Spokane in 2022, and already it has almost 3,500 members in the Tri-Cities. It’s the 18th largest credit union in the nation, according to a press release issued by the credit union.

The addition of the three Tri-Cities locations will bring the credit union’s total to 62 branches.

The credit union owns property in Kennewick, Richland, and Pasco.

ICCU bought the Kennewick land for $784,100 in February 2023, and permits have been issued for commercial construction, water meters, utilities, mechanical work, and a sign structure.

The $12.4 million Kennewick branch will have a 4,900-square-foot branch building with a drive-thru, according to building permit information.

Chervenell Construction Co., of Kennewick, is the contractor on the project, and Lombard Conrad Architects, of Boise, Idaho, designed it.

A $5.2 million permit is pending for the construction of a 5,000-square-foot branch at the 1.4-acre Richland site, which the credit union bought for $1 million in September 2023.

The 2-acre Pasco site has yet to see a building permit since ICCU bought it for $2.2 million in May 2023.

The credit union was founded in 1940 and currently has more than $12 billion in assets, serving more than 670,000 customers in Idaho, Washington, and eastern Oregon.

WaFd earnings dip;

bank halts home lending

WaFd Bank, which is based in Seattle and has a presence in Spokane, reported net income of $47.3 million, or 54 cents per diluted share, for the first quarter of its fiscal year 2025, which ended Dec. 31, down from $58.5 million, or 85 cents per share, in the year-earlier quarter.

Brent Beardall, WaFd president and CEO, says in a press release, “Our results were impacted by greater-than-expected margin compression” largely due to Federal Reserve cuts in interest rates.

The bank had $27.68 billion in total assets, including loans totaling $21.06 billion as of Dec. 31, up from $22.64 billion and $17.58 billion, respectively, a year earlier.

Deposits totaled $21.44 billion, up from $16.04 billion a year earlier.

Upon releasing WaFd’s quarterly earnings report, Beardall announced the bank has shuttered its home financing division and won’t be taking applications for home loans anymore, while it turns its focus to business lending.

While WaFd will retain and service its existing mortgages, home equity lines of credit, and clients with homes currently under construction, Beardall says the bank expects the move away from the mortgage lending market will save $17 million by June.

According to a Puget Sound Business Journal report, WaFd has laid off 8% of its staff, or 185 employees, in the move.

State DFI joins

two settlements

The Washington state Department of Financial Institutions has participated with other regulatory agencies in two recently announced settlements totaling $186 million.

In one case, DFI has joined a task force of state securities regulators and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a $106 million settlement with investment-management company Vanguard Group Inc. and its marketing affiliate.

The task force had found that Vanguard failed to supervise registered agents and didn’t disclose potential tax consequences to hundreds of thousands of investors as many of them sold retirement funds managed by Vanguard to purchase another investment vehicle managed by the company.

"It's inexcusable for companies to not inform investors of potentially high-cost consequences related to changes implemented in their investment products and plans," DFI director Charlie Clark says in a press release. "Our agency continues to work with regulatory partners throughout the country to ensure Washington investors are properly informed in a timely manner when their hard-earned money is at stake."

In a separate action, DFI and 47 other state financial regulatory agencies have taken coordinated action, which includes an $80 million fine, against fintech company Block Inc.

The company, which owns the Cash App digital wallet platform used by more than 50 million people in the U.S., is accused of violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering laws.

“Just because a company develops a popular financial service that customers want to use, it does not excuse the company from complying with all regulatory requirements, including laws in place to prevent money laundering,” Clark says.

Another term of the settlement requires Block to hire an independent consultant to review the comprehensiveness and effectiveness of its Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering compliance.

Block also is required to submit a report to regulators within nine months and must correct any deficiencies found within 12 months of the filing of the report.