BancTrust Financial Group, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for BankTrust, which provides various financial services to individuals, small businesses, and other organizations in southern Alabama and northwest Florida. Its deposit products include checking accounts, commercial accounts, and savings accounts, as well as other time deposits, such as daily money market accounts and certificates of deposit. The company’s loan portfolio comprises commercial, commercial real estate, individual and commercial construction, and consumer loans, as well as real estate mortgage loans. It also offers cash management services comprising lock-box, sweep accounts, and remote deposits. In addition, BancTrust Financial Group provides drive-in banking and night deposit facilities, safe deposit boxes, traveler’s checks, direct deposit, automated teller machines, Internet banking, debit and credit card, and telephone banking services. As of January 29, 2010, it operated 42 bank offices in the southern two-thirds of Alabama and 9 bank offices in northwest Florida. BancTrust Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Mobile, Alabama.

Ames National Corporation is the multi-bank holding company for flagship subsidiary First National Bank, Ames, Iowa, as well as Boone Bank & Trust, Randall-Story State Bank, State Bank & Trust, and United Bank & Trust. With a total of about a dozen branches, the banks provide area individuals and businesses with standard services such as checking and savings accounts, CDs, IRAs, and credit and debit cards. Commercial and agricultural real estate loans account for about half of the company's loan portfolio, which also includes residential, construction, consumer, and business loans. The banks also offer trust and financial management services.

Security Finance Corporation of Spartanburg. Founded in 1955, the consumer loan company provides personal loans typically ranging from $100 to $600 (some states, however, allow loan amounts as high as $3,000). Customers can also turn to Security Finance for credit reports and tax preparation services. The company has approximately 800 offices in about 15 states operating mainly under the Security Finance, Sunbelt Credit, and PFS banners. It also has locations operating as Security Financial Services and Longhorn Finance in North Carolina and Texas, respectively.

BB&T, the banking company that covers the Southeast like kudzu. The company serves consumers, small to midsized businesses, and government entities through more than 1,800 branches. Its flagship subsidiary, Branch Banking and Trust (also known as BB&T), is one of North Carolina's oldest banks and a leading originator of residential mortgages in the Southeast. In addition to deposit accounts and loans, the company offers insurance, mutual funds, discount brokerage, wealth management, and financial planning services. Business services include leasing, factoring, and investment banking (through Scott & Stringfellow).

Arbuthnot Banking Group consists of three divisions that provide a variety of services ranging from personal financial services to investment banking. Secure Trust Bank provides banking and insurance through retail branches in the West Midlands region of the UK. Arbuthnot Latham offers private banking, financial planning, and investment management, while Arbuthnot Securities is an investment bank whose services include corporate finance, brokerage, and market making. Chairman and chief executive Henry Angest owns a majority stake in Arbuthnot Banking Group.

SBV&T knows the ABCs of banking. The corporation is the holding company for Springs Valley Bank & Trust, a community bank with about five locations in southern Indiana. Serving local individuals and businesses, the bank offers checking and savings accounts, loans, and mortgages, as well as trust and investment services. It is mainly a real estate lender, with residential and commercial mortgages making up most of the company's loan portfolio. Business, consumer, farmland, municipal, and construction and land development loans round out the bank's lending activities.

Valley National is high on its New Jersey and New York business banking customers. The holding company owns Valley National Bank, which provides commercial and retail banking services through more than 205 branch offices in northern and central New Jersey and in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. The bank offers checking and savings accounts, CDs, and trust services. About 60% of the bank's loan portfolio is dedicated to mortgages, split about evenly between residential and commercial property; consumer loans add another 20%. Subsidiaries offer such services as asset-based lending, asset management, mortgage services, title insurance, auto lending, aircraft financing, equipment leasing, insurance products, and title services.

Orchard First Source Capital (OFS) plants its money in companies and watches the interest grow. OFS offers lending services to middle-market companies and private equity firms operating in North America. Its loans, which are provided in support of restructurings, recapitalizations, leveraged buyouts, acquisitions, and other business transactions, include revolving lines of credit, term loans, and asset-based loans. The firm serves various industries, typically lending to companies with annual revenues of more than $30 million. It occasionally partners with other financial institutions for larger transactions. In 2009 OFS terminated a deal to acquire 80% of cash-strapped Beverly Hills Bancorp.

PlainsCapital Corporation is an independent Texas bank holding company and diversified financial services company comprised of three separate operating businesses: PlainsCapital Bank, FirstSouthwest and PrimeLending. PlainsCapital Bank,with $5 billion in assets, is the financial and strategic foundation of this family of companies.

Horizon Bancorp is on the up-and-up. It's the holding company for Horizon Bank, which serves northwest Indiana and southwest Michigan through more than 20 branches. It provides local individuals and businesses such standard services as checking and savings accounts, IRAs, CDs, and credit cards. Commercial, financial, and agricultural loans make up the largest segment of Horizon's loan portfolio, which also includes mortgage warehouse loans (loans earmarked for sale into the secondary market), consumer installment loans, and residential mortgages. Through subsidiaries, the bank offers trust and investment management services, life and health insurance, property/casualty coverage, and annuities.

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