Barwick Bank is the smallest bank in Georgia, according to CEO Jim Bange, but the $15 million bank aims to grow its assets to between $350 to $500 million in the next five years. While many banks try to grow by overhauling their digital channels, Barwick still has yet to create any. 

“Right now there is no digital platform, no online banking. [The bank] doesn’t even have debit cards,” Bange said. “We are going to expand our product line 1,000-fold when we launch everything. We’re going to have online banking, mobile banking, EFT, debit cards, remote deposit capture. It’s a technologically robust system. We’ll be able to bank anyone, anywhere.” 

Bange and his partners acquired the bank in December with the goal of giving it a digital makeover and growing its deposits beyond the small southern Georgia town of Barwick, which has a reported population of 365 people. The bank is using Finastra’s Fusion Phoenix core to create its digital channels and expand into new markets, and aims to go live with the new platform in late October.  

Fusion Phoenix is Finastra’s core banking system for community banks and credit unions. According to Nick Perfido, senior sales manager at Finastra, the system’s deposit and loan servicing, general ledger, and CRM solutions allow banks to replace up to seven systems at once. The core runs on Microsoft technology. “Efficiency is a big play for Fusion Phoenix,” he said. “It allows a small institution that is looking to get larger do more with fewer resources.” 

By offering online banking and debit cards, the bank wants to gain more customers in the local Barwick area while growing its presence within Georgia. In addition, Barwick aims to reach markets in Florida, including St. Augustine and Daytona Beach, according to Bange. He said bank employees are spreading the word about the makeover locally, and the bank is planning to use social media and web ads to reach customers in new markets.  

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Bange and his partners aren’t strangers to growing small banks. In 2008, Bange launched Reunion Bank of Florida, which gained FDIC approval and grew to $350 million in assets in five years. Reunion Bank also ran on Finastra Fusion Phoenix. The bank was bought by National Bank of Commerce in 2015, and later by CenterState Bank in 2018.  

Barwick Bank was established in 1907, and had been owned by the same family since the late 1930s, Bange said. Former CEO Fred Jones was ready to retire and didn’t have a successor, which led to the acquisition. Jones still serves on the bank’s board. Bange said he and his partners would rather help investors gain returns by growing the bank instead of selling it.  

According to Bange, the bank’s transformation efforts aren’t all coming from the new guard. “We have some legacy folks that are still with us on the board, or as employees, that are really looking forward to this,” he said. “They’ve been big champions of the change.”