Santa Cruz County Bank Ranks 4th in the Nation, 1st in California For Community Banks Under $3 Billion

SANTA CRUZ, Calif., March 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Santa Cruz County Bank (OTC Pink: SCZC), with assets over $1 billion, is a top rated community bank headquartered in Santa Cruz County. Today the Bank announced its rank as 4th in the S&P Global Market ranking of 100 Top Performing Community Banks in the United States under $3 billion in assets and as the top (#1) bank in California. Rankings are based on financials for the year ended December 31, 2019. This is the fourth consecutive year Santa Cruz County Bank has ranked in the Top 100 Community Banks in the United States.

David Heald, President and CEO remarked, "We are thrilled with our 4^th place ranking among 4,391 community banks under $3 billion across the nation. To place first in California is another amazing milestone for Santa Cruz County Bank. This is a testament to the hard work, vision and focus of our entire team, which includes our Board of Directors. I applaud our team for their commitment to continued delivery of outstanding financial performance." 

To compile this ranking, S&P Global Market intelligence calculated scores for each company based on six metrics: pre-tax return on tangible common equity, net charge-offs as a percentage of average loans, efficiency ratio, adjusted Texas ratio, net interest margin and loan growth. Each company's standard deviation from the industry mean was calculated for every ranking metric, equally weighted, then added together to derive a performance score. To help normalize the data and mitigate the impact of the outliers, caps and floors were applied for each metric. To be eligible for the ranking, a bank and thrift must possess a loan-to-asset ratio of at least 33.33% and no more than half of those loans could come from credit cards. Furthermore, the company had to be well capitalized according to current regulatory standards and no more than half of the institution's revenue could come from nontraditional banking activities. Banks with parent companies above $3 billion in assets were excluded.

Based on the above criteria, 4,391 commercial banks, savings banks, and savings and loan associations were eligible for ranking.

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 seven branches–Aptos, Capitola, Cupertino, Santa Cruz (2), Scotts Valley and Watsonville – all of which are Green Business Certified in accordance with the Bank's commitment to the environment. 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 OTC 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.

NATIONAL, STATE, AND LOCAL RATINGS AND AWARDS 
S&P Global Top 100 Community Banks: Santa Cruz County Bank ranked 4th in the nation out of more than 4,200 banks with assets under $3 billion based upon 2019 performance. The Bank has ranked in the Top 100 Community Banks by S&P Global for four consecutive years. 
Financial Management Consulting (FMC) Group: Santa Cruz County Bank has ranked in FMC's top ten banks in California for the past five years.
The Findley Reports, Inc.: The Bank has received the top ranking of Super Premier by Findley for nine consecutive years.
Bauer Financial Reports, Inc.: Santa Cruz County Bank is rated 5-star "Superior" based upon its financial performance for every quarter in 2019.
American Banker Magazine: Santa Cruz County Bank ranked 12th out of 601 institutions in American Banker Magazine's "Top Performing 200 Community Banks & Thrifts in the United States" based upon 3-year average return on equity. The Bank ranked 4th out of 26 California banks. The Bank has ranked in the Top 200 Community Banks in the United States for six consecutive years.
The Bank ranks 4th in the Silicon Valley for the number of SBA loans lent to Silicon Valley businesses for the SBA's 2019 fiscal year.

COMMUNITY AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce, 2018 Business of the Year Award.
Farm Bureau of Santa Cruz County, 2018 Al Smith Friend of Agriculture Award for support of the agricultural industry and providing access to capital.
Second Harvest Food Bank, Platinum Level Award for the 2019 Holiday Food & Fund Drive.
Santa Cruz Sentinel, 2019 Reader's Choice Award, number one bank in Santa Cruz County as voted by Santa Cruz Sentinel readers.
Good Times, 2019 Best of Santa Cruz County Award, Voted "Best Bank" for the seven consecutive years.
Santa Cruz Waves Magazine, 2019 Swellies Awards, Voted "Favorite Bank" in Santa Cruz County.  

This release may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Such risks and uncertainties may include but are not necessarily limited to fluctuations in interest rates, inflation, government regulations and general economic conditions, and competition within the business areas in which the Bank is conducting its operations, including the real estate market in California and other factors beyond the Bank's control. Such risks and uncertainties could cause results for subsequent interim periods or for the entire year to differ materially from those indicated. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which reflect management's view only as of the date hereof. The Bank undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

SOURCE Santa Cruz County Bank

Related Links

http://www.sccountybank.com