Bank acquisition hits snag

A Clearwater bank's $260 million proposed deal to acquire a digital banking services company with a focus on millennials is on the verge of collapsing.

Clearwater-based Flagship Community Bank signed a deal to buy BankMobile, a division of Wyomissing, Pa.-based Customers Bancorp, in February. BankMobile provides digital banking services to college students, among other sometimes underbanked demographics.

But financing for the deal hasn't materialized, according to recent statements from Customers Bancorp and Flagship officials. “Since Flagship was unable to raise all the required capital needed to complete the acquisition ... we are now considering restructuring the transaction as a tax free spinoff of BankMobile to Customers Bancorp shareholders,” Customers Bancorp officials say in a public filing.