New logo via FFB Bank

A Fresno-born bank seeks to expand its reach beyond the Central Valley with the launch of a new name this week.

Entering 18 years of operations, Fresno First Bank is changing its name to FFB Bank. It is a transition six months in the making that is being announced amidst the biggest national banking story in more than a decade – the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in New York.

“While we recognize our name change may be lost among the other banking stories circulating this week, the timing to debut FFB Bank as our new name was set in motion prior to last week’s events,” stated Steve Miller, FFB Bank president and CEO, in a news release. “The team is very excited about our new name, and we are looking forward to continuing to grow our franchise in a prudent manner moving forward.”

A strategy to expand to new markets in California and throughout the country prompted the decision to ditch the location-based name to “better resonate with customers outside of the California Central Valley.” 

“Changing the brand and making it more universal is the logical, necessary step for us to take,” Miller said. “We have an opportunity to continue to grow in Fresno while also expanding beyond California’s Central Valley. We think that this is the right thing to do for our current and future customers, our shareholders and for our people.” 

FFB Bank has already begun establishing customer bases in Northern and Southern California as well as in 30 other states, according to the release.

Fresno First Bank was founded by local business people in 2005 as a single-branch bank. It intends to stay that way, seeking to serve new customers outside the Fresno area using digital technology while keeping its headquarters here.

With the announcement, FFB Bank also sought to reassure customers that its financial position is strong during an uncertain time in the banking industry. The bank noted, as of March 10:

• Total deposits have grown 4.2% to $1.12 billion from $1.08 billion at year-end 2022.
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• Cash and cash equivalents total over $57.7 million and represent 4.5% of total assets.
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• Total securities held to maturity total $3.5 million, or 0.27% of total assets.
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• Total securities available for sale were $325 million with the negative mark of $24.2 million reflected in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (AOCI)
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• Reliance on wholesale funding, which includes brokered deposits and overnight borrowing, decreased to $50 million from $84 million as of year-end.
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• FFB Bank has no exposure to venture capital or cryptocurrency.
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• No material changes in asset quality from year-end 2022.
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• FFB Bank has $440 million in secured lines of credit and $91 million in unsecured lines of credit available.

“With the sudden failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, we want to underscore the importance of maintaining strong capitalization and diversified sources of funding,” Miller said. “Our capital levels are solid, and we have been consistently profitable, evidenced by the last two years of record earnings. We navigated through a similar time from April 2020 to October 2020 following the PPP and Banks’ COVID Loan deferrals, which stabilized credit quality and Capital fears.” 

The bank is also launching a marketing campaign titled “What’s your FFB?” featuring video segments of staff explaining what the acronym means to them.

Miller also emphasized the Bank’s continued love for the Fresno community regardless of its plans to grow beyond the Central Valley. For local customers who have supported the Bank thus far, he stated, “I want them to take credit for our success and to feel proud that the Bank they’ve been supporting and working with for the past 17 years is now at the stage where we can grow beyond our traditional footprint. As we expand, we will be taking the core values and work ethic of the valley with us.”