Santa Cruz County Bank Makes American Banker Magazine's Top 200 Best Performing Community Banks and Thrifts in the United States

Local bank ranks 29th in the nation based on 3-year average return on equity

Eighth consecutive year in the Top 200 list

News provided by

Jun 14, 2021, 17:00 ET

SANTA CRUZ, Calif., June 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Santa Cruz County Bank (OTCQX: SCZC), with assets over $1.5 billion, is a top-rated community bank headquartered in Santa Cruz County. Today the Bank announced its rank as 29^th in the Top Performing 200 Community Banks and Thrifts in the United States. Performance data and rankings were released in American Banker Magazine's May 2021 publication which included a total of 511 publicly traded institutions with less than $2 billion in assets. Ranking was based upon 3-year average return on equity for the years ending December 31, 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Santa Cruz County Bank ranked 4^th in the state out of a total of 26 California banks ranked in American Banker Magazine's Top 200 Community Bank list. The median 3-year return on average equity for the top 200 banks was 11.39% compared to a median of 9.22% for all 511 institutions. Santa Cruz County Bank's 3-year average return on equity was 14.61% from 2018-2020.

Krista Snelling, President and CEO commented, "We are honored to be ranked among the Top 200 banks in the nation for an eighth year based upon our financial performance. Our position in the top performance ratings year after year, in both California and the nation, is the result of strategic focus and discipline by our entire team. We continue to expand and excel within our industry while maintaining exceptional credit quality and high performance."

ABOUT SANTA CRUZ COUNTY BANK

Santa Cruz County Bank was founded in 2004. It is a top-rated, locally-owned and operated, full-service community bank headquartered in Santa Cruz, California. The bank has eight branches–Aptos, Capitola, Cupertino, Monterey, Santa Cruz (2), Scotts Valley and Watsonville. Santa Cruz County Bank is distinguished from "big banks" by its relationship-based service, problem-solving focus and direct access to decision makers. The bank is a leading SBA lender in Santa Cruz County and Silicon Valley and a top USDA lender in the state of California. As a full-service bank, Santa Cruz County Bank offers competitive deposit and lending solutions for businesses and individuals; including business loans, lines of credit, commercial real estate financing, construction lending, agricultural loans, SBA and USDA government guaranteed loans, credit cards, merchant services, remote deposit capture, mobile and online banking, bill payment and treasury management. True to its community roots, Santa Cruz County Bank has supported regional well-being by actively participating in and donating to local not-for-profit organizations.

Santa Cruz County Bank stock is publicly traded on the OTCQX marketplace under the symbol SCZC. Stock purchase orders may be placed online, through a brokerage firm, or through Market Makers listed in the Investor Relations section of the bank's website. For more information about Santa Cruz County Bank, visit www.sccountybank.com.

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY BANK'S SBA LENDING RANKINGS FOR THE 2020 FISCAL YEAR
SBA Rank Silicon Valley – Ranked 11th by number of loans
SBA Rank SF District – Ranked 10th by dollar amount

NATIONAL, STATE, AND LOCAL RATINGS AND AWARDS
S&P Global: Santa Cruz County Bank is ranked in the Top 100 Community Banks in the nation for performance for banks under $3 billion in assets.
The Findley Reports, Inc.: The Bank has received the top ranking of Super Premier Performing Bank by Findley for 11 consecutive years.
Financial Management Consulting: Santa Cruz County Bank has ranked in FMC's top 10 banks in California for the past 6 years.
Good Times Best of Santa Cruz County Reader's Poll: Voted "Best Bank" in Santa Cruz County, 9 consecutive years.
Santa Cruz Sentinel Readers' Choice: Voted #1 Best Bank, 6 years.

SOURCE Santa Cruz County Bank