US lender SmartBiz completes Centrust Bank acquisition to form SmartBiz Bank
US small business lender SmartBiz has completed its acquisition of United Community Bancshares and Chicago-based subsidiary Centrust Bank for an undisclosed sum.
SmartBiz acquires Centrust Bank to form SmartBiz Bank
SmartBiz says the combined company will now be renamed SmartBiz Bank and will operate under the bank holding company SmartBiz Bancshares.
Founded in 2006, Centrust Bank is a community bank offering deposit, lending, and online banking products and services, and has primarily been focused on business lending for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
SmartBiz says the bank “will continue to provide these vital small business banking services as Centrust Bank, a division of SmartBiz Bank, N.A.”
Centrust Bank’s entire team will join SmartBiz Bank through the acquisition, with CEO Gerard Buccino now taking on the role of president at SmartBiz Bank.
Speaking on SmartBiz’s latest acquisition, which has been approved by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, CEO Evan Singer says: “We are building a bank designed specifically to serve small businesses.”
Singer explains that the bank’s initial offering will include small business administration (SBA) lending options and personalised financial guidance, with plans to evolve into a “full-service financial solutions provider for our nation’s small businesses”.
SmartBiz specialises in providing business loans of up to $500,000, and has distributed over $9 billion in funding across more than 230,000 loans since being established in 2013.
