American Banking Company ABC Holding Company ABC Bancorp
Founded
October 1, 1971; 53 years ago (1971-10-01) (as American Banking Company) December 18, 1980; 44 years ago (1980-12-18) (as ABC Holding Company) Moultrie, Georgia[1]
The company was founded on October 1, 1971 in Moultrie, Georgia as American Banking Company by Eugene M. Vereen, Jr. The bank started with one location and $1 million in capital. Vereen said he "envisioned a bank for the future" that "set out to create a collective mindset that doesn't rely on tired banking norms or cookie-cutter solutions."[1]
In 1980, ABC Holding Company was formed as a parent company to American Banking Company before changing its name to ABC Bancorp in 1986. Sixteen years after its founding, ABC Bancorp became a public company in 1987 via an initial public offering and in 1994 began trading on the Nasdaq. The company changed to its current name of Ameris Bancorp in 2005.[3]
What started as a regional bank in South Georgia began its expansion into neighboring states in 1996 when it branched into Alabama. Four years later, the bank expanded into Florida. In 2006, the bank expanded into South Carolina and into North Carolina in 2020. The bank now maintains 166 full-service branches in those five states combined, with additional mortgage-only locations in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Tennessee.[4]
Since 1979, Ameris Bank has successfully completed 35 mergers and acquisitions. That includes the $24.5 million acquisition of Prosperity Banking Company in 2013,[5] the $37.3 million acquisition of Coastal Bankshares in 2014,[5] the $50 million acquisition of Merchants & Southern Banks of Florida in 2015,[6] the $96.4 million acquisition of Jacksonville Bank in 2016,[6] the $169.3 million acquisition of Atlantic Coast Financial in 2018,[7] the $397.1 million acquisition of Hamilton State Bank in 2018[6] and the $869.3 million acquisition of Fidelity Southern Corporation in 2019. During the Fidelity acquisition, Ameris appointed Fidelity CEO H. Palmer Proctor, Jr. as CEO and updated its brand to incorporate Fidelity's recognizable Lion logo.[6][8]
Between 2009 and 2012, in transactions organized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the company acquired American United Bank,[9] United Security Bank,[10] Satilla Community Bank,[11] First Bank of Jacksonville,[12] Darby Bank & Trust,[13] Tifton Banking Company,[14] One Georgia Bank,[15] High Trust Bank,[16] Central Bank of Georgia,[17] and Montgomery Bank & Trust,[18] all of which suffered from bank failure.
Ameris Bank moved its executive team to Jacksonville, Florida in 2016,[19] where they remained for three years before moving to their current headquarters in Atlanta.[19] Ameris's common stock is began trading on the NYSE on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, and continues to be traded under its current ticker symbol "ABCB" after the transfer.
PPP Loans
As an SBA-preferred lender, Ameris Bank worked with its commercial customers to provide relief during the 2020-2021 COVID-19 pandemic. The bank originated more than $1.5 billion in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to more than 14,000 businesses, including intentional outreach to more than 400,000 minority and woman-owned businesses.[4]
United States v. Ameris Bank (M.D. Fla.)
On November 7, 2023, the court entered a consent order in United States v. Ameris Bank (M.D. Fla.). The complaint, which was filed on October 19, 2023, alleged that Ameris Bank violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and the Fair Housing Act (FHA) by engaging in unlawful redlining in the bank’s Jacksonville, Florida service area. The Department’s complaint alleges that, from 2016 through 2021, Ameris Bank avoided providing mortgage services to majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Jacksonville and discouraged people seeking credit in those communities from obtaining home loans. Ameris’ home mortgage lending was focused disproportionately on white areas of Jacksonville while other lenders generated applications in majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods at three times the rate of Ameris. Additionally, although Ameris operates 18 branches in Jacksonville, Ameris has never operated a branch in a majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhood in the city. The consent order requires Ameris to invest at least $7.5 million in a loan subsidy fund to increase access to home mortgage, home improvement, and home refinance for residents of majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Jacksonville. Additionally, in those same neighborhoods, Ameris will spend $900,000 for advertising, outreach, and consumer financial education; spend $600,000 to develop community partnerships to provide services that increase access to residential mortgage credit; open a new branch; ensure at least three mortgage loan officers are dedicated to serving those communities; and employ a Director of Community Lending who will oversee the continued development of lending in communities of color in Jacksonville. Ameris will also retain a consultant to assess the bank’s compliance management system as it pertains to redlining risk across all of its markets.
