Ameris Bancorp Stock

Ameris Bancorp (Ameris) operates as a financial holding company.

The company’s business is conducted primarily through the company’s wholly owned banking subsidiary, Ameris Bank (the ‘bank’), which provides a full range of banking services to its retail and commercial customers who are primarily concentrated in select markets in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina.

The company operates various full-service domestic banking offices. The company’s deposits are insured, up to applicable limits, by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the ‘FDIC’).

Strategy

The company has maintained its focus on a long-term strategy of expanding and diversifying the company’s franchise in terms of revenues, profitability and asset size. The company’s growth over the past several years has been enhanced significantly through both organic growth and acquisitions.

The company’s most recent bank acquisition was of Fidelity Southern Corporation (‘Fidelity’), which was completed in July 2019. In addition, in December 2021, the bank acquired Balboa Capital Corporation (‘Balboa’), a point of sale and direct online provider of lending solutions to small and mid-sized businesses nationwide.

Banking Services

Lending Activities

The company maintains a diversified loan portfolio by providing a broad range of commercial and retail lending services to business entities and individuals. The company provides agricultural loans, commercial business loans, commercial and residential real estate construction and mortgage loans, consumer loans, revolving lines of credit and letters of credit. The company also originates first mortgage residential mortgage loans and generally enters into a commitment to sell these loans in the secondary market. The company has not made or participated in foreign, energy-related or subprime loans. In addition, the company may buy loan participations or portions of national credits from time to time.

Commercial Real Estate Loans. Commercial real estate loans include loans secured by owner-occupied commercial buildings for office, storage, retail, farmland and warehouse space. They also include non-owner occupied commercial buildings, such as leased retail and office space. These loans also include extensions for the acquisition, development or construction of commercial properties.

Residential Real Estate Mortgage Loans. Ameris originates adjustable and fixed-rate residential mortgage loans. These mortgage loans are generally originated under terms and conditions consistent with secondary market guidelines. Some of these loans will be placed in the company’s loan portfolio; however, a majority are sold in the secondary market. The residential real estate mortgage loans that are included in the company’s loan portfolio are usually owner-occupied and generally amortized over a 20- to 30-year period with three- to five-year maturity or repricing.

Agricultural Loans. The company’s agricultural loans are extended to finance crop production, the purchase of farm-related equipment or farmland and the operations of dairies, poultry producers, livestock producers and timber growers. Agricultural loans typically involve seasonal balance fluctuations. Although the company typically looks to an agricultural borrower’s cash flow as the principal source of repayment, agricultural loans are also generally secured by a security interest in the crops or the farm-related equipment, and in some cases, an assignment of crop insurance and mortgage on real estate. The lending officer visits the borrower regularly during the growing season and re-evaluates the loan in light of the borrower’s updated cash flow projections. A portion of the company’s agricultural loans is guaranteed by the Farm Service Agency Guaranteed Loan Program.

Commercial and Industrial Loans. Generally, commercial and industrial loans consist of loans made primarily to manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers of goods, service companies, municipalities and other industries. These loans are made for acquisition, expansion, working capital and equipment financing and may be secured by accounts receivable, inventory, equipment, personal guarantees or other assets. The company monitors these loans by requesting submission of corporate and personal financial statements and income tax returns. The company has also generated loans, which are guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (the ‘SBA’). SBA loans are generally underwritten in the same manner as conventional loans generated for the bank’s portfolio. Periodically, a portion of the loans that are secured by the guaranty of the SBA will be sold in the secondary market. During 2021 and 2020, the company participated in the SBA's Paycheck Protection Program, a temporary product under the SBA's 7(a) loan program created under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. The company also originates, administers, and services commercial insurance premium finance loans made to borrowers throughout the United States.

Consumer Loans. The company’s consumer loans include home improvement, home equity, motor vehicle, loans secured by savings accounts and personal credit lines. The terms of these loans typically range from 12 to 240 months and vary based upon the nature of collateral and size of the loan. These loans are generally secured by various assets owned by the consumer.

The bank originates loans outside of the company’s market areas through its national lines of business, including equipment finance, premium finance and government guaranteed lending.

The company actively markets its services to qualified lending customers in both the commercial and consumer sectors. The company’s commercial lending officers actively solicit the business of new companies entering the market, as well as longstanding members of that market’s business community. Through personalized professional service and competitive pricing, the company has been successful in attracting new commercial lending customers. At the same time, the company actively advertises its consumer loan products and continually seeks to make its lending officers more accessible.

Investment Portfolio

As of December 31, 2023, the company’s investment portfolio included U.S. Treasuries; U.S. government-sponsored agencies; state, county and municipal securities; corporate debt securities; SBA pool securities; and mortgage-backed securities.

Deposits

The company provides a full range of deposit accounts and services to both retail and commercial customers. These deposit accounts have a variety of interest rates and terms and consist of interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing accounts, including commercial and retail checking accounts, regular interest-bearing savings accounts, money market accounts, individual retirement accounts and certificates of deposit. The bank obtains most of its deposits from individuals and businesses in its market areas.

Brokered deposits are deposits obtained by utilizing an outside broker that is paid a fee. The bank utilizes brokered deposits to accomplish several purposes, such as (i) acquiring a certain maturity and dollar amount without repricing the bank’s customers, which could increase or decrease the overall cost of deposits and (ii) acquiring certain maturities and dollar amounts to help manage interest rate risk.

Other Funding Sources

The Federal Home Loan Bank (‘FHLB’) allows the company to obtain advances through its credit program. These advances are secured by securities owned by the company and held in safekeeping by the FHLB, FHLB stock owned by the company and certain qualifying loans secured by real estate, including residential mortgage loans, home equity lines of credit and commercial real estate loans. The company maintains credit arrangements with various other financial institutions to purchase federal funds. The company participates in the Federal Reserve discount window borrowings program.

Supervision and Regulation

As a bank holding company and financial holding company, Ameris is subject to regulation, supervision and enforcement by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the ‘Federal Reserve’).

The bank has a Georgia state charter and is subject to regulation, supervision and enforcement by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance (the ‘GDBF’). In addition, as a state non-member bank, the bank is subject to regulation, supervision and enforcement by the FDIC as the bank’s primary federal regulator.

In addition, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the ‘CFPB’) supervises the bank with respect to consumer protection laws and regulations.

As a registered bank holding company, the company is subject to regulation under the Bank Holding Company Act (the ‘BHCA’) and to the supervision, examination and reporting requirements of the Federal Reserve.

The bank’s deposits are insured to the maximum extent permitted by the DIF. The bank’s regular assessments are determined within a range of base assessment rates based in part on the bank’s CAMELS composite rating, taking into account other factors and adjustments.

The company has a correspondent relationship with the FHLB of Atlanta. In its most recent CRA evaluation, as of October 31, 2022, the bank was rated Satisfactory under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).

Under the Durbin Amendment to the Dodd-Frank Act and the Federal Reserve’s implementing regulations, the debit card interchange fee that the bank charges merchants must be reasonable and proportional to the cost of clearing the transaction.

The bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 and other federal laws and regulations require financial institutions, among other things, to institute and maintain an effective anti-money laundering (‘AML’) program. Under these laws and regulations, the bank is required to take steps to prevent the use of the bank to facilitate the flow of illegal or illicit money, to report large currency transactions and to file suspicious activity reports. In addition, the bank is required to develop and implement a comprehensive AML compliance program, as well as have in place appropriate ‘know your customer’ policies and procedures.

If the company or the bank find a name on any transaction, account or wire transfer that is on an OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) list, the company or the bank must freeze or block such account or transaction, file a suspicious activity report and notify the appropriate authorities.

The bank is subject to a number of federal and state laws designed to protect customers and promote lending to various sectors of the economy and population. These consumer protection laws apply to a broad range of the company’s activities and to various aspects of the company’s business, and include laws relating to interest rates, fair lending, disclosures of credit terms and estimated transaction costs to consumer borrowers, debt collection practices, the use of and the provision of information to consumer reporting agencies, and the prohibition of unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices in connection with the offer, sale or provision of consumer financial products and services. These laws include the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Truth in Lending Act, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, as well as their state law counterparts. At the federal level, most consumer financial protection laws are administered by the CFPB, which supervises the bank.

History

Ameris Bancorp was founded in 1971. The company was incorporated in 1980 as a Georgia corporation.