Aug 10, 2020   SOURCE: PR NewsWire

West Town Bancorp Announces Rebrand to Integrated Financial Holdings

RALEIGH, N.C., Aug. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- West Town Bancorp, Inc., a financial services holding company, announced a major rebranding today to Integrated Financial Holdings, Inc. (OTC PINK: WTWB pending IFHI approval) to reflect the Company's evolution from a bank holding company into a financial services ecosystem of integrated companies. Transformational changes in recent years at the Holding Company-level include taking full ownership in Windsor Advantage, LLC, divesting its controlling interest in Sound Bank (now Dogwood State Bank) and expanding product offerings aligned at creating synergies with its strong Government Guaranteed Lending ("GGL") market-share.

The Company's creativity in setting up niche-based entities provides the framework for expanded GGL product offerings. In late 2019, the Organization started SBA Loan Documentation Services, LLC, which offers documentation compliance review services and charges a fixed amount per loan closing. The Company also launched Glenwood Structured Finance, LLC, a loan brokerage and syndication arm, as well as Patriarch, LLC, a real estate company to facilitate the resolution of problem assets at the Bank. Through its six wholly-owned subsidiaries listed below, IFH has fully established a sound and scalable infrastructure to support its small business and financial institution clients nationwide by offering a wide range of GGL-related products and services.

    --  West Town Bank & Trust ("WTBT") is an Illinois-chartered bank
        headquartered in North Riverside which offers traditional banking
        services but selectively specializes in government guaranteed lending
        nationally and tailored deposit products for specific lines of business.
        WTBT defines GGL, GGL "Small Loans", Hemp Banking Services, Commercial
        Account Services and Mortgage Lending as its five primary banking
        verticals.
    --  West Town Insurance Agency, Inc. is based in Edenton, North Carolina. 
        As an independent agency, the Company represents various carriers and
        has the ability to compare coverage and pricing to find the best
        possible value for personal or business insurance needs.
    --  Windsor Advantage, LLC ("Windsor") is the Nation's largest Lender
        Service Provider, providing community banks and credit unions with a
        comprehensive outsourced SBA 7(a) and USDA lending platform.  Windsor
        currently services nearly $2.0 billion in loans for hundreds of lenders
        across the country.  While many of the larger banks have struggled to
        process Paycheck Protection Program applications on a timely basis,
        Windsor's technology driven "Accel" platform has allowed its community
        bank clients to be highly responsive throughout the pandemic.
    --  SBA Loan Documentation Services, LLC provides a holistic and sequenced
        approach to the preparation of loan documentation under the SBA 7(a)
        Loan Program.  Staff is comprised of seasoned loan closers and veteran
        attorneys with decades of SBA lending experience.  The firm made a great
        deal of progress building its clientele during the COVID pandemic and
        has compelling long-term growth opportunities.
    --  Glenwood Structured Finance, LLC is a transaction advisory and placement
        agent created to fill the gaps in the financing processes for community
        and regional lenders, providing a full suite of services for sub-middle
        market capital transactions.
    --  Patriarch, LLC is a real-estate management company focused on asset
        preservation and the rapid resolution associated with select assets
        within the Bank's various portfolios.

Eric Bergevin, President & Chief Executive Officer at IFH, said, "It has been our vision to systematically build out an integrated financial services network of capabilities and assets to address niche-based service areas. Our team has worked hard to put together comprehensive end-to-end solutions to manage the intricacies of government guaranteed lending, including technology enabled loan processing, packaging, documenting, secondary market sales, servicing and liquidating. These efforts behind a clear and revitalized identity will not only capture a tremendous amount of future fee income, but also help streamline our approach in serving our clients."

In addition, IFH executed a strategic advance into the hemp banking industry by recently investing in and partnering with VeriLeaf, Inc., as well as establishing a joint venture with a payment processing team to form West Town Payments, LLC. These engagements allow the Company to further expand niche deposit strategies across collaborative cross-selling channels to meet the demands of its growing hemp and CBD clients. Not only has WTBT proactively garnered expertise surrounding the banking rules and regulations in this segment, but the Bank has also embraced a solutions-based approach by offering customized products and services within the space, helping build trustworthy and long-term banking relationships.

"As the hemp industry continues to grow, so do banking and insurance opportunities for this market," said Melissa Marsal, the Bank's Chief Operating Officer. "While these businesses have certainly experienced financial service-related challenges, the Farm Bill of 2018 allows even conservative and risk averse entities to embrace hemp and the revenue it can generate. With customer on-boarding support from our partners at VeriLeaf and merchant processing solutions offered through West Town Payments, we are uniquely positioned in the market to compliantly scale the Bank's hemp initiative and more effectively serve these customers throughout the country."

About Integrated Financial Holdings, Inc.

Integrated Financial Holdings, Inc. ("IFH") is a North Carolina-based financial services holding company, specializing in small business lending solutions and targeted bank deposit products to underserved verticals with a focus on technology and collaborative, opportunistic investments.

IFH is the holding company for West Town Bank & Trust ("WTBT"), an Illinois state-chartered bank. WTBT provides banking services through its two full-service offices located in the greater Chicago area. IFH is also the parent company of; West Town Insurance Agency, Inc., an insurance agency; Windsor Advantage, LLC, a loan processing and servicing company; SBA Loan Documentation Services, LLC, a loan documentation origination company; Glenwood Structured Finance, LLC, a brokerage and large loan syndication company; and Patriarch, LLC, a real estate management company. IFH maintains an interest in two additional companies (VeriLeaf, LLC and Dogwood State Bank) and recently formed a joint venture with West Town Payments, LLC.

IFH is registered with, and supervised by, the Federal Reserve. To learn more, visit ifhinc.com.

Media contact: Andrew Sheaffer, (919) 861-8162, asheaffer@ifhinc.com

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SOURCE Integrated Financial Holdings, Inc.