February 8, 2021 – Wisconsin Bank & Trust, a division of HTLF Bank, through its parent company, Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ: HTLF), has been named a “Forbes Best Bank 2021.”
Heartland is the only bank headquartered in Iowa to receive the prestigious recognition from Forbes, again this year.
In its annual review of the largest publicly traded banks and thrifts, Forbes ranked Heartland 52nd among a nationwide group of 100 leading banking organizations with assets ranging from $9 billion to over $2 trillion.
“We are proud to be named among the best banks in America for 2021,” said Lynn H. “Tut” Fuller, President and CEO of Dubuque Bank and Trust. “As community banks, what sets us apart is our strong commitment to our customers, combined with access to ‘big-bank’ products and services as part of Heartland.”
“The Forbes ranking underscores the benefits of our unique structure—the strength and capabilities of a big bank, combined with the personal touch and local decision-making of a community bank,” Fuller said. Dubuque Bank & Trust offers full-service branches where experts can meet all financial needs throughout the community.
“We are proud to be named among the Best Banks in America for 2021,” said Jeff Hultman, CEO at Illinois Bank & Trust. “As a community bank, what sets us apart is our strong commitment to our customers, combined with access to ‘big-bank’ products and services as part of Heartland.”
“The Forbes ranking underscores the benefits of our unique structure—the strength and capabilities of a big bank, combined with the personal touch and local decision-making of a community bank,” Hultman said. Illinois Bank & Trust offers full-service branches where experts can meet all financial needs throughout the community.
“We are proud to be named among the Best Banks in America for 2021,” said Brent Giles, President and CEO at Wisconsin Bank & Trust. “As a community bank, what sets us apart is our strong commitment to our customers, combined with access to ‘big-bank’ products and services as part of Heartland.”
“The Forbes ranking underscores the benefits of our unique structure—the strength and capabilities of a big bank, combined with the personal touch and local decision-making of a community bank,” Giles said. Wisconsin Bank & Trust offers full-service branches where experts can meet all financial needs throughout the community.
“We are proud to be named among the Best Banks in America for 2021,” said Greg Leyendecker, President and CEO at New Mexico Bank & Trust. “As a community bank, what sets us apart is our strong commitment to our customers, combined with access to ‘big-bank’ products and services as part of Heartland.”
“The Forbes ranking underscores the benefits of our unique structure—the strength and capabilities of a big bank, combined with the personal touch and local decision-making of a community bank,” Leyendecker said. New Mexico Bank & Trust offers full-service branches where experts can meet all financial needs throughout the community.
“We are proud to be named among the Best Banks in America for 2021,” said Bill Callahan, President and CEO at Arizona Bank & Trust. “What sets us apart is our strong commitment to our local customers, combined with access to ‘big-bank’ products and services as part of Heartland.”
“The Forbes ranking underscores the benefits of our unique structure—the strength and capabilities of a big bank, combined with the personal touch and local decision-making of a community bank,” Callahan said. Arizona Bank & Trust offers full-service branches where experts can meet all financial needs throughout the community.
“We are proud to be named among the Best Banks in America for 2021,” said Tod Petersen, President and CEO at Rocky Mountain Bank. “As a community bank, what sets us apart is our strong commitment to our customers, combined with access to ‘big-bank’ products and services as part of Heartland.”
“The Forbes ranking underscores the benefits of our unique structure—the strength and capabilities of a big bank, combined with the personal touch and local decision-making of a community bank,” Petersen said. Rocky Mountain Bank offers full-service branches where experts can meet all financial needs throughout the community.
“We are proud to be named among the Best Banks in America for 2021,” said Joanne Sherwood, President and CEO at Citywide Banks. “As a community bank, what sets us apart is our strong commitment to our customers, combined with access to ‘big-bank’ products and services as part of Heartland.”
“The Forbes ranking underscores the benefits of our unique structure—the strength and capabilities of a big bank, combined with the personal touch and local decision-making of a community bank,” Sherwood said. Citywide Banks offers full-service branches where experts can meet all financial needs throughout the community.
“We are proud to be named among the Best Banks in America for 2021,” said Stephen Bishop, President and CEO at Minnesota Bank & Trust. “As a community bank, what sets us apart is our strong commitment to our customers, combined with access to ‘big-bank’ products and services as part of Heartland.”
“The Forbes ranking underscores the benefits of our unique structure—the strength and capabilities of a big bank, combined with the personal touch and local decision-making of a community bank,” Bishop said.
“We are proud to be named among the Best Banks in America for 2021,” said Wendy Reynolds, President of Bank of Blue Valley. “As a community bank, what sets us apart is our strong commitment to our customers, combined with access to ‘big-bank’ products and services as part of Heartland.”
“The Forbes ranking underscores the benefits of our unique structure—the strength and capabilities of a big bank, combined with the personal touch and local decision-making of a community bank,” Reynolds said. Bank of Blue Valley offers full-service branches where experts can meet all financial needs throughout the community.
“We are proud to be named among the Best Banks in America for 2021,” said Lo Nestman, President and CEO at Premier Valley Bank. “As a community bank, what sets us apart is our strong commitment to our customers, combined with access to ‘big-bank’ products and services as part of Heartland.”
“The Forbes ranking underscores the benefits of our unique structure—the strength and capabilities of a big bank, combined with the personal touch and local decision-making of a community bank,” Nestman said. Premier Valley Bank offers full-service branches where experts can meet all financial needs throughout the community.
“We are proud to be named among the Best Banks in America for 2021,” said Greg Garland, President at First Bank & Trust. “As a community bank, what sets us apart is our strong commitment to our customers, combined with access to ‘big-bank’ products and services as part of Heartland.”
“The Forbes ranking underscores the benefits of our unique structure—the strength and capabilities of a big bank, combined with the personal touch and local decision-making of a community bank,” Garland said. First Bank & Trust offers full-service branches where experts can meet all financial needs throughout the community.
To compile the rankings, Forbes used data collected by SNL Financial through the third quarter of 2020 on the country’s largest publicly traded banks and thrifts. The data covered 10 metrics of financial health: return on average equity; net interest margin; nonperforming loans (NPLs) as a percentage of loans; nonperforming assets as percentage of assets; reserves as a percentage of NPLs; two capital ratios (Tier 1 and risk-based); and leverage ratio. Forbes generated its ranking based on an average of the individual ranks of each metric.