First Federal Named Top Midtier Bank in Florida by American Banker

First Federal Bank was recently listed by American Banker as one of the top mid-tier banks ($2B to $10B in total assets) for 2021. First Federal ranked #26 out of 282 institutions rated, and was #1 in Florida.

“We are honored by this recognition, which emphasizes First Federal’s commitment to being a financially sound, community bank,” says FFB President and CEO John Medina. “We have always sought to provide stability to the communities we serve, and to offer innovative solutions. Being able to support small businesses during the economic uncertainty of the pandemic has been a privilege, and was a factor in our American Banker ranking.”

First Federal employees worked around the clock to help small businesses receive money from the PPP program in 2020 and 2021. Knowing how much these loans meant to their customers and their employees motivated them during the long hours. Through the Paycheck Protection Program, First Federal helped over 2300 small businesses secure $257 million in funding. Thousands of families continuing to receive paychecks.

“The banks that managed to outshine their peers the most generally leaned into the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program,” said Claude Hanley, a partner at Capital Performance Group, which compiled the annual midtier ranking for the American Banker Association based on average return on equity across three years. “Many of the banks in this size range took PPP applications even from noncustomers, unlike their big-bank counterparts, and stepped up their marketing after those banks stopped taking applications altogether,” Hanley said.

To read the full article, go to https://www.americanbanker.com/data/fee-income-is-key-our-2021-ranking-of-midtier-banks.

This latest recognition for First Federal Bank comes after the institution was named the Best Small Bank in Florida by Newsweek in 2020, and one of the five Most Innovative Banks of 2019 by Independent Banker Magazine.