First Financial plans band consolidation.(First Financial Bancorp)

Bank branches straddle Ohio-Indiana border

Continuing down the path it started on 18 months ago, First Financial Bancorp is preparing to consolidate two of its member banks.

The Hamilton-based bank holding company has applied with the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland to merge Union Trust Bank of Union City, Ind., into Community First Bank & Trust Co., which is based in Celina.

The deal combines First Financial's smallest subsidiary with its second-largest. Following the merger, Community First, already among the dominant institutions in west-central Ohio, will have assets of about $680 million and 24 branches straddling the Ohio-Indiana state line. …