Look for yourself.
Real US community banks, read against a real standard, scored on fit and on timing separately. You almost certainly don’t sell to banks, and that’s the point: watch what the method does rather than who it is done to.
1,921 companies read 13 criteria 15 shown here read 18-21 September 2026
Fifteen from the top of this run. The whole market is read again every month, so these rows move.
Open any company to read the evidence behind its two scores.
1 The Fountain Trust Company Fit 100 Timing 90
Closed its first acquisition on 10 March 2026 and put the customer conversion live in early April. The efficiency ratio has risen 10 points year over year, and it is still hiring loan operations staff.
GATE: US insured depository
MetIt is a US bank whose deposits are federally insured. That matters because insured banks file public financial reports every quarter, which is where most of the evidence below comes from.
FDIC certificate 5768, legal name THE FOUNTAIN TRUST COMPANY, Covington IN, primary federal regulator FDIC, Member FDIC on website.
GATE: Asset band $300M to $10B
MetIt is the right size: big enough to run an operations team, small enough that it buys software rather than building its own.
2026Q2 call report total assets $844.6M (i.e., $844,615 thousand).
GATE: At least 50 employees
MetIt is big enough to have people whose whole job is the back office, which is who this software is sold to.
153 full-time equivalent employees on the 2026Q2 call report; provider record also 153.
Unabsorbed acquisition workload
MetIt has bought another bank and has not finished merging it in. Not that a deal happened, but that the work is visibly still open.
Fountain Trust is the ACQUIRER: FDIC record shows it "absorbed The Gifford State Bank of Gifford, IL ($189.6M in assets); 4 branches transferred" effective 2026-03-10. Customer-facing conversion completed April 6, 2026 per the welcomegifford FAQ, but migration artifacts (bill pay, eStatements, alerts explicitly NOT transferred) show the cutover left manual re-work.
Efficiency ratio elevated
MetIts costs are high against its income. Banks report this number every quarter and watch it closely, so a bad one already has the board’s attention.
2026Q2 efficiency ratio 69.64%: the top of the 55 to 70% community-bank norm (69th percentile of peers per Visbanking, where lower is better).
Headcount absorption strain
MetIt has added people far faster than it has added business. That is what taking on work you cannot yet absorb looks like from the outside.
The record qualifies this one. Assets per employee rose 3.8% over the same three years, so the bank is staffing up alongside growing volume rather than absorbing work it cannot yet automate. The fit rests on the workload from the merger, not on a standing gap.
Employees 131 to 153 over three years (2023Q2 to 2026Q2), +16.8%, above the ~15% threshold.
Customer-facing digital layer mid-change
MetCustomers of an acquired bank still log in through a separate page. It is the most visible sign that a merger is unfinished, and anyone can see it.
Named, dated artifact: the welcomegifford conversion FAQ states "we will convert from The Gifford State Bank's software and digital platforms to The Fountain Trust Company's system... begin on April 3 and will be completed when the new banking and digital systems are live on April 6, 2026", including new contactless debit cards and an "Enhanced Online + Mobile Banking experience".
Conversion or operations hiring
MetIt is advertising for the roles a system conversion needs: loan operations, deposit operations, reconciliation. Banks staffing up for that work usually show it before they talk about it.
Careers page (dated 2026-09-18) shows an open full-time "Loan Operations Representative" in Covington, IN covering loan tracking, documentation tracking, escrow management and secondary-market servicing.
2 Heritage Bank Fit 100 Timing 90
Absorbed a $1.65B bank on 31 January 2026. The efficiency ratio has climbed 6.9 points in the two quarters since it closed, and the bank’s website still runs a separate login for the acquired bank’s customers.
GATE: US insured depository
MetIt is a US bank whose deposits are federally insured. That matters because insured banks file public financial reports every quarter, which is where most of the evidence below comes from.
FDIC certificate 29012, legal name HERITAGE BANK, primary federal regulator FDIC, charter class NM.
GATE: Asset band $300M to $10B
MetIt is the right size: big enough to run an operations team, small enough that it buys software rather than building its own.
Total assets $8.42B as of 2026Q2 call report: inside the $300M to $10B band, though near the top of it.
GATE: At least 50 employees
MetIt is big enough to have people whose whole job is the back office, which is who this software is sold to.
981 full-time equivalent employees on the 2026Q2 call report; corroborated by the firmographics record (981, web-lookup provenance).
Unabsorbed acquisition workload
MetIt has bought another bank and has not finished merging it in. Not that a deal happened, but that the work is visibly still open.
Heritage is the acquirer or surviving entity: FDIC record shows "Participated in Absorbtion/Consolidation/Merger, absorbed Kitsap Bank of Port Orchard, WA ($1.65B in assets); 18 branches transferred" effective 2026-01-31. The Heritage website still carries a separate "Kitsap Bank Online Banking" sign-in alongside Heritage's own portals, a live parallel-system artifact. Efficiency ratio 67.54% in 2026Q2, deteriorating +2.7 points quarter-over-quarter and +5.2 points year-over-year, worsening on BOTH horizons and sitting elevated.
Efficiency ratio elevated
MetIts costs are high against its income. Banks report this number every quarter and watch it closely, so a bad one already has the board’s attention.
Efficiency ratio 67.54% at 2026Q2: inside the 55 to 70% community-bank norm but in its upper half, and up from 59.3% three years earlier.
Headcount absorption strain
MetIt has added people far faster than it has added business. That is what taking on work you cannot yet absorb looks like from the outside.
Employees 818 to 981 over three years (2023Q2 to 2026Q2), +19.9%, well above the ~15% threshold. Assets per employee moved only -1.2% ($8.69M to $8.59M), so this is staffing against volume, not leverage gained; the structural reading holds here because the efficiency ratio also worsened +8.2 points over the same three years.
Customer-facing digital layer mid-change
MetCustomers of an acquired bank still log in through a separate page. It is the most visible sign that a merger is unfinished, and anyone can see it.
Two online-banking systems running in parallel: the heritagebanknw.com sign-in menu lists both Heritage's own portals AND a separate "Kitsap Bank Online Banking" login, a named, customer-facing parallel-system artifact seven months after the merger.
Conversion or operations hiring
MetIt is advertising for the roles a system conversion needs: loan operations, deposit operations, reconciliation. Banks staffing up for that work usually show it before they talk about it.
Open postings include "Deposit Operations Specialist - Temporary" (Everett, July to December 2026, duties include "Learns, reconciles, and verifies basic general ledger account entries and reconciliations"); "Loan Servicing Specialist" (Tacoma Southern Operations Center); "Digital Banking Support Specialist - Temporary" (Bremerton). Multiple open operations roles.
3 Volunteer Bank Fit 100 Timing 74
Absorbed a $1.55B bank on 1 January 2026, its second in eighteen months, and ran the systems cutover over a weekend in June. The efficiency ratio worsened 4 points in the quarter it completed.
GATE: US insured depository
MetIt is a US bank whose deposits are federally insured. That matters because insured banks file public financial reports every quarter, which is where most of the evidence below comes from.
FDIC certificate 22451, legal name LAWRENCE BANK, primary federal regulator FDIC, charter class NM.
GATE: Asset band $300M to $10B
MetIt is the right size: big enough to run an operations team, small enough that it buys software rather than building its own.
Total assets $3.04B as of 2026Q2 call report.
GATE: At least 50 employees
MetIt is big enough to have people whose whole job is the back office, which is who this software is sold to.
Employees (full-time equivalent): 334 on the 2026Q2 call report.
Unabsorbed acquisition workload
MetIt has bought another bank and has not finished merging it in. Not that a deal happened, but that the work is visibly still open.
Direction: Volunteer/Lawrence Bank is the ACQUIRER, "Participated in Absorbtion/Consolidation/Merger, absorbed F&M Bank of Clarksville, TN ($1.55B in assets); 18 branches transferred" effective 2026-01-01, and absorbed Fourth Capital Bank ($516.5M) effective 2024-07-01. The customer-facing cutover was declared complete June 8, 2026, but the efficiency ratio worsened +4.0 points quarter-over-quarter (2026Q1 66.06% to 2026Q2 70.06%) in the completion quarter and sits above the 55 to 70% norm, and deposit-operations and treasury-operations hiring was live in August 2026.
Efficiency ratio elevated
MetIts costs are high against its income. Banks report this number every quarter and watch it closely, so a bad one already has the board’s attention.
Efficiency ratio 70.06% in 2026Q2, above the ~70% line and above the 55 to 70% community-bank norm.
Headcount absorption strain
MetIt has added people far faster than it has added business. That is what taking on work you cannot yet absorb looks like from the outside.
The record declines the structural reading here. Assets per employee rose 31.9% because the balance sheet grew faster still, so this is staffing against growth rather than evidence of work the bank cannot absorb. What carries the finding is the dated movement after the merger, not the headcount on its own.
Employees 149 to 334 FTE over three years (2023Q2 to 2026Q2), +124.2%, far above the ~15% threshold.
Customer-facing digital layer mid-change
MetCustomers of an acquired bank still log in through a separate page. It is the most visible sign that a merger is unfinished, and anyone can see it.
Dated customer-facing platform switch: "Our online and mobile banking will be temporarily unavailable beginning Friday, June 5 at 4 p.m. until Monday, June 8 at 8 a.m. as we integrate F&M into our existing banking systems", plus a customer-facing branch and routing notice "As part of our systems integration with F&M, our Mt. Juliet and Springfield offices have some updates coming soon" effective June 8.
Conversion or operations hiring
MetIt is advertising for the roles a system conversion needs: loan operations, deposit operations, reconciliation. Banks staffing up for that work usually show it before they talk about it.
Open postings at Lawrence Bank: Deposit Operations Specialist (posted 2026-08-10); Treasury Management Operations Specialist-BO (posted 2026-08-16); Commercial Real Estate Loan Closer (posted 2026-08-23); plus an IT-team growth post citing "an exciting phase of growth and integration" (2026-04-28).
4 Dream First Bank, N.A. Fit 83 Timing 90
Two absorptions still inside their conversion runways, and an efficiency ratio at 72.09%, up 14.8 points year over year and still rising in the most recent filed quarter.
GATE: US insured depository
MetIt is a US bank whose deposits are federally insured. That matters because insured banks file public financial reports every quarter, which is where most of the evidence below comes from.
FDIC certificate 4779, legal name DREAM FIRST BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, primary federal regulator OCC, charter class N.
GATE: Asset band $300M to $10B
MetIt is the right size: big enough to run an operations team, small enough that it buys software rather than building its own.
Total assets $963.7M as of 2026Q2 call report; CREHQ shows $918M as of 2025-12-31, different dates, both valid.
GATE: At least 50 employees
MetIt is big enough to have people whose whole job is the back office, which is who this software is sold to.
Employees (full-time equivalent): 144 on the 2026Q2 call report; company profile also states 144.
Unabsorbed acquisition workload
MetIt has bought another bank and has not finished merging it in. Not that a deal happened, but that the work is visibly still open.
The record above counts two filed events. A third belongs on the list: the FDIC-assisted merger absorbing Heartland Tri-State Bank ($139.4M, effective 2023-07-28), which is why that bank’s login portal is named in the same quote. The account page counts all three. The count here is left as the run recorded it and corrected in this note rather than edited.
Dream First is the acquirer on two filed events: "2026-02-13: Branch Purchased, absorbed Bank of the Plains of Plains, KS ($445.6M in assets)" and "2025-06-20: Participated in Absorbtion/Consolidation/Merger, absorbed BancCentral, National Association of Alva, OK ($243.0M in assets); 4 branches transferred". Conversion NOT complete: dreamfirst.bank still runs live separate login portals "BancCentral Access" and "Heartland Tri-State". Cost ratio NOT recovered: efficiency ratio 72.09% in 2026Q2, +1.6 points QoQ and +14.8 points YoY.
Re-read 21 September 2026: the separate login portals named above have since been consolidated into a single login.
Efficiency ratio elevated
MetIts costs are high against its income. Banks report this number every quarter and watch it closely, so a bad one already has the board’s attention.
Efficiency ratio 72.09% as of 2026Q2, above the 70% threshold and above the 55 to 70% community-bank norm; 73rd percentile among peers (lower is better).
Headcount absorption strain
MetIt has added people far faster than it has added business. That is what taking on work you cannot yet absorb looks like from the outside.
Employees 73 to 144 (+97.3%) over three years (2023Q2 to 2026Q2), far above the ~15% threshold; assets per employee FELL -4.4% ($7.00M to $6.69M), so this is genuine absorption, not leverage gained.
Customer-facing digital layer mid-change
MetCustomers of an acquired bank still log in through a separate page. It is the most visible sign that a merger is unfinished, and anyone can see it.
dreamfirst.bank navigation shows separate live customer-facing login portals for both acquired institutions: "BancCentral Access" and "Heartland Tri-State - Personal" / "Heartland Tri-State - Business" alongside the main Dream First login, two systems running in parallel, a named artifact.
Re-read 21 September 2026: the separate login portals named above have since been consolidated into a single login.
5 First Mid Bank & Trust, N.A. Fit 83 Timing 88
Closed its absorption of a $1.20B bank on 12 June 2026, its second in three years. The efficiency ratio worsened 3.2 points in the quarter the merger closed, and the homepage still carries a live conversion alert.
GATE: US insured depository
MetIt is a US bank whose deposits are federally insured. That matters because insured banks file public financial reports every quarter, which is where most of the evidence below comes from.
FDIC certificate 3705, "FIRST MID BANK & TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION", OCC-regulated national bank, "Member FDIC" on its own site.
GATE: Asset band $300M to $10B
MetIt is the right size: big enough to run an operations team, small enough that it buys software rather than building its own.
2026Q2 call report total assets $9,142,999 thousand = $9.14B, inside the band.
GATE: At least 50 employees
MetIt is big enough to have people whose whole job is the back office, which is who this software is sold to.
FDIC call report: 1,122 full-time equivalent employees as of 2026Q2.
Unabsorbed acquisition workload
MetIt has bought another bank and has not finished merging it in. Not that a deal happened, but that the work is visibly still open.
DIRECTION: First Mid is the acquirer or surviving entity, FDIC record: "absorbed Two Rivers Bank & Trust of Burlington, IA ($1.20B in assets); 14 branches transferred", effective 2026-06-12. CONVERSION NOT COMPLETE: homepage still shows "Legacy Two Rivers 401(k) Participants Login" portals and a live alert "See important updates on the conversion of Two Rivers Trust Accounts to First Mid Wealth Management". COST RATIO NOT RECOVERED: efficiency ratio worsened +3.2 points quarter-over-quarter (55.36% 2026Q1 to 58.55% 2026Q2), the quarter the merger closed; $7.1M of Two Rivers acquisition-related expenses hit Q2 2026.
Headcount absorption strain
MetIt has added people far faster than it has added business. That is what taking on work you cannot yet absorb looks like from the outside.
The record is careful here. Assets per employee also rose 3.2% while assets grew 37.4%, so the bank added assets faster than people. This scores the headcount growth only, and the structural reading is not claimed.
FDIC employee series: 843 (2023Q2) to 1,122 (2026Q2), +33.1% over three years, well above the ~15% threshold.
Customer-facing digital layer mid-change
MetCustomers of an acquired bank still log in through a separate page. It is the most visible sign that a merger is unfinished, and anyone can see it.
Named artifacts on the live site: "See important updates on the conversion of Two Rivers Trust Accounts to First Mid Wealth Management" alert, plus dedicated "Legacy Two Rivers 401(k) Participants" and "Legacy Two Rivers 401(k) Employers" login portals running in parallel with First Mid's own logins; a dedicated Two Rivers customer-migration page ("See details about the change").
Conversion or operations hiring
MetIt is advertising for the roles a system conversion needs: loan operations, deposit operations, reconciliation. Banks staffing up for that work usually show it before they talk about it.
Commercial Loan Documentation Specialist (posted 2026-07-30): "Serves as a member of the conversion mapping and validation team for conversions... ensuring coding of target banks loans is completed in an accurate manner." Loan Servicing Support Associate (2026-08-12): "Processes and validates conversion items related to transferring or assigning another bank's UCC interests to First Mid... Validates converted images and researches mapping or indexing issues related to acquisitions, conversions and data cleanup projects."
6 Merchants & Marine Bank Fit 83 Timing 85
Absorbed a $448.2M bank on 1 April 2026, its second absorption in two years. Its own published risk factors still list completing the core conversion of acquired banks as an open item.
GATE: US insured depository
MetIt is a US bank whose deposits are federally insured. That matters because insured banks file public financial reports every quarter, which is where most of the evidence below comes from.
FDIC certificate 12203, legal name MERCHANTS & MARINE BANK, primary federal regulator FDIC, charter class NM.
GATE: Asset band $300M to $10B
MetIt is the right size: big enough to run an operations team, small enough that it buys software rather than building its own.
Total assets $1.35B as of 2026Q2 call report, inside the $300M to $10B band.
GATE: At least 50 employees
MetIt is big enough to have people whose whole job is the back office, which is who this software is sold to.
Employees (full-time equivalent): 296 on the 2026Q2 FDIC call report.
Unabsorbed acquisition workload
MetIt has bought another bank and has not finished merging it in. Not that a deal happened, but that the work is visibly still open.
Direction established first: the prospect IS the acquirer, FDIC record shows it "absorbed Farmers-Merchants Bank & Trust Company of Breaux Bridge, LA ($448.2M in assets); 6 branches transferred" effective 2026-04-01. Conversion complete: NOT established, the company's own risk factors still flag "our ability to successfully complete the conversion of the core data processing systems of acquired banks into the core data processing system of the Bank". Cost ratio recovered: FAILS, the ratio improved QoQ and YoY but sits at an elevated 75.80% in 2026Q2, above the 55 to 70% norm.
Efficiency ratio elevated
MetIts costs are high against its income. Banks report this number every quarter and watch it closely, so a bad one already has the board’s attention.
The direction here is good news for the bank. The ratio fell 21.9 points in the quarter after the acquisition closed and 13.9 points year over year. What the criterion scores is the level it is still at, not the trend.
Efficiency ratio 75.80% at 2026Q2, above the ~70% threshold and above the 55 to 70% community-bank norm.
Headcount absorption strain
MetIt has added people far faster than it has added business. That is what taking on work you cannot yet absorb looks like from the outside.
The record declines the structural reading. Assets per employee rose 33.5% over the same period, which is leverage gained rather than work being absorbed by hand. The headcount threshold is met and no absorption claim rests on it.
Employees 193 (2023Q2) to 296 (2026Q2), +53.4% over three years, well above the 15% threshold.
Conversion or operations hiring
MetIt is advertising for the roles a system conversion needs: loan operations, deposit operations, reconciliation. Banks staffing up for that work usually show it before they talk about it.
Loan Operations Specialist at Merchants & Marine Bank, posted 2026-08-21, a direct match to loan-operations capacity being added. Other open roles (SBA Loan Specialist, tellers, Retail Bank Manager) are not operations-queue roles and do not add to this criterion.
7 Security First Bank Fit 83 Timing 85
Bought eleven branches on 10 April 2026 and ran the customer conversion that weekend. Five months on, the routing-number change and reconnection guides are still published for customers.
GATE: US insured depository
MetIt is a US bank whose deposits are federally insured. That matters because insured banks file public financial reports every quarter, which is where most of the evidence below comes from.
FDIC certificate 5415, legal name SECURITY FIRST BANK, primary federal regulator FDIC, charter class NM.
GATE: Asset band $300M to $10B
MetIt is the right size: big enough to run an operations team, small enough that it buys software rather than building its own.
Total assets $2.32B as of 2026Q2 call report ($2,320,000 thousand in FDIC units).
GATE: At least 50 employees
MetIt is big enough to have people whose whole job is the back office, which is who this software is sold to.
Employees (full-time equivalent): 329 on the 2026Q2 call report; corroborated by the firmographics lookup (329, web-search provenance).
Unabsorbed acquisition workload
MetIt has bought another bank and has not finished merging it in. Not that a deal happened, but that the work is visibly still open.
DIRECTION: bank is the acquirer, FDIC structure record shows "2026-04-10: Branch Purchased, absorbed First Interstate Bank of Billings, MT". CONVERSION COMPLETE: fails, live migration artifacts remain published: the Welcome Conversion page instructs customers to "Update your routing number (104113819)", "Download or print 12-24 months of account statements", notes "ATMs... may remain unavailable for up to two weeks", and provides QuickBooks/Quicken reconnection guides. COST RATIO RECOVERED: fails, efficiency ratio 65.15% (2025Q2) to 67.58% (2026Q2), +2.4 points year over year.
Efficiency ratio elevated
MetIts costs are high against its income. Banks report this number every quarter and watch it closely, so a bad one already has the board’s attention.
Efficiency ratio 67.58% at 2026Q2, inside the 55 to 70% community-bank norm but in its upper half; three-year level moved 63.1% to 67.6% (+4.5 points, a RISE, i.e. deterioration).
Headcount absorption strain
MetIt has added people far faster than it has added business. That is what taking on work you cannot yet absorb looks like from the outside.
The record is explicit that this is not evidence of absorption on its own. Total assets grew 29.8% and assets per employee rose 2.9% over the same period, so the bank added assets faster than it added people. The threshold is met; nothing further is claimed from it.
Employees 261 (2023Q2) to 329 (2026Q2), +26.1%, well above the ~15% threshold.
Customer-facing digital layer mid-change
MetCustomers of an acquired bank still log in through a separate page. It is the most visible sign that a merger is unfinished, and anyone can see it.
Named artifacts: the Welcome Conversion page for the April 10 to 13, 2026 transition weekend, "Online & Mobile Banking: Unavailable after 12:00 am CST" Friday, resuming Monday 10:00 am CST; new debit cards issued; business customers "will transition to CorpLink Business Online Banking... required training session prior to April 10th". A separate "Online Banking Upgrade" page describes a migration to a new platform, with one-time PIN re-authentication and payee migration.
8 High Plains Bank Fit 100 Timing 62
Absorbed a $151.1M bank on 22 April 2026 and is moving the acquired customers onto its own app. It is hiring into loan operations, though its cost ratio has been improving throughout.
GATE: US insured depository
MetIt is a US bank whose deposits are federally insured. That matters because insured banks file public financial reports every quarter, which is where most of the evidence below comes from.
FDIC certificate 3017, State commercial bank, Federal Regulator FED, "FDIC-Insured - Backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government" on its site.
GATE: Asset band $300M to $10B
MetIt is the right size: big enough to run an operations team, small enough that it buys software rather than building its own.
Total assets $643,130 thousand = $643.1M as of 2026-06-30 call report.
GATE: At least 50 employees
MetIt is big enough to have people whose whole job is the back office, which is who this software is sold to.
116 full-time-equivalent employees on the 2026Q2 call report (call-report figure used over the 98 web-lookup figure per the firmographics provenance caveat).
Unabsorbed acquisition workload
MetIt has bought another bank and has not finished merging it in. Not that a deal happened, but that the work is visibly still open.
Direction established first: High Plains is the acquirer, "High Plains Bank will absorb The First National Bank of Hugo"; FDIC record: "absorbed The First National Bank of Hugo of Hugo, CO ($151.1M in assets); 3 branches transferred" effective 2026-04-22. No live migration artifacts found on the public web surface, but the merger closed only ~5 months ago. Cost ratio recovered: HOLDS, efficiency ratio improved on both views. No operations strain: FAILS, a 2026-07-23 posting hires a Loan Servicing Specialist onto the Loan Operations team.
Efficiency ratio elevated
MetIts costs are high against its income. Banks report this number every quarter and watch it closely, so a bad one already has the board’s attention.
2026Q2 efficiency ratio 69.03%, inside the 55 to 70% norm but in its upper half (above the 62.5% midpoint). Marginal Met: the ratio is improving (-2.8 points QoQ, -2.2 points YoY, 77.0% to 69.0% over three years), so this is a level condition near the top of the band, not a deteriorating one.
Headcount absorption strain
MetIt has added people far faster than it has added business. That is what taking on work you cannot yet absorb looks like from the outside.
The record declines the structural reading and says so plainly. Assets grew 65.8% over the same period, faster than headcount, and assets per employee rose 22.9%. This is headcount growth accompanying a bigger balance sheet, not work being absorbed by hand.
Employees 86 to 116 over three years (2023Q2 to 2026Q2), +34.9%, well above the ~15% threshold.
Customer-facing digital layer mid-change
MetCustomers of an acquired bank still log in through a separate page. It is the most visible sign that a merger is unfinished, and anyone can see it.
Named artifact, dated to the merger: "The enhanced technology we bring, including the HPBGO app, Zelle, and the ability to direct message our staff", the acquirer is switching the acquired Hugo, Limon and Leadville customer base onto its HPBGO digital layer as of the 2026-04-22 close. The acquired customers previously banked with FNB Hugo's own systems.
Conversion or operations hiring
MetIt is advertising for the roles a system conversion needs: loan operations, deposit operations, reconciliation. Banks staffing up for that work usually show it before they talk about it.
Loan Servicing Specialist posting (2026-07-23): "join our Loan Operations team as a Loan Servicing Specialist... Execute daily loan system maintenance, payment processing, escrow analysis, and next-day quality control," requiring "Familiarity with... the Jack Henry Xperience core banking platform and the AccuAccount digital file storage system."
9 The Bennington State Bank Fit 83 Timing 78
Two whole-bank acquisitions in seventeen months, the second closing 8 April 2026 and folding in four separately branded locations. It redesigned its mobile app on 1 September, mid-integration.
GATE: US insured depository
MetIt is a US bank whose deposits are federally insured. That matters because insured banks file public financial reports every quarter, which is where most of the evidence below comes from.
FDIC certificate 16402, legal name THE BENNINGTON STATE BANK, primary federal regulator FDIC, "MEMBER FDIC" on its own site.
GATE: Asset band $300M to $10B
MetIt is the right size: big enough to run an operations team, small enough that it buys software rather than building its own.
2026Q2 call report: Total assets $1.42B (i.e. $1,420M in thousands units), inside the $300M to $10B band.
GATE: At least 50 employees
MetIt is big enough to have people whose whole job is the back office, which is who this software is sold to.
FDIC call report 2026Q2: Employees (full-time equivalent): 169.
Unabsorbed acquisition workload
MetIt has bought another bank and has not finished merging it in. Not that a deal happened, but that the work is visibly still open.
DIRECTION: BSB is the acquirer or surviving entity, "Berco and BSB will acquire Eskridge, Kansas based Flint Hills Bank"; FDIC record shows BSB "absorbed" Flint Hills Bank and Alliance Bank. CONVERSION COMPLETE: not established for Flint Hills, no cutover artifacts found, and the Alliance conversion (weekend Jan 17-20, 2025) is complete but Flint Hills closed 2026-04-08 with migration work plausibly running. COST RATIO RECOVERED: holds, efficiency ratio 40.32% in 2026Q2, improving and not elevated. NO OPERATIONS STRAIN: FAILS, live postings include "Loan Servicing Specialist, Salina, KS" and "Treasury Management Operations Specialist, Salina, KS".
Headcount absorption strain
MetIt has added people far faster than it has added business. That is what taking on work you cannot yet absorb looks like from the outside.
The record declines the structural reading. Assets grew 43.8% over the same window and assets per employee rose 2.1%, so this is staffing against volume rather than absorption, and no absorption claim rests on it.
FDIC employee series: 120 (2023Q2) to 169 (2026Q2), +40.8% over three years, well above the ~15% threshold.
Customer-facing digital layer mid-change
MetCustomers of an acquired bank still log in through a separate page. It is the most visible sign that a merger is unfinished, and anyone can see it.
Named, dated artifact: "New Redesigned Mobile Banking App" published 2026-09-01, "Updating the app is easy! When you open...", a customer-facing mobile app change within the last 90 days, mid-Flint-Hills-integration.
Conversion or operations hiring
MetIt is advertising for the roles a system conversion needs: loan operations, deposit operations, reconciliation. Banks staffing up for that work usually show it before they talk about it.
Careers page shows open "Loan Servicing Specialist, Salina, KS" and "Treasury Management Operations Specialist, Salina, KS" roles; the site also states "We're constantly growing and new roles are opening up all the time". Loan servicing and deposit-operations capacity is being added.
10 Vallant Bank Fit 83 Timing 78
Merged with a $1.60B bank on 1 April 2026 and announced the systems conversion complete on 17 June. The quarter still carried $8.0M of one-time merger expense, and the efficiency ratio worsened on every filed horizon.
GATE: US insured depository
MetIt is a US bank whose deposits are federally insured. That matters because insured banks file public financial reports every quarter, which is where most of the evidence below comes from.
FDIC certificate 14065, legal name VALLANT BANK, primary federal regulator FDIC, Elberton, GA.
GATE: Asset band $300M to $10B
MetIt is the right size: big enough to run an operations team, small enough that it buys software rather than building its own.
Total assets $3,985,347 thousand ($3.99B) as of 2026-06-30.
GATE: At least 50 employees
MetIt is big enough to have people whose whole job is the back office, which is who this software is sold to.
FDIC call report: 579 full-time equivalent employees as of 2026Q2; Revelio Labs shows 361 as of March 2026. Both far above 50.
Unabsorbed acquisition workload
MetIt has bought another bank and has not finished merging it in. Not that a deal happened, but that the work is visibly still open.
Direction established first: Vallant is the acquirer or surviving entity, "Vallant Financial, Inc. completed its merger with Morris State Bancshares, Inc." with Pinnacle Bank and Morris Bank merged INTO Vallant Bank. Conversion: announced complete June 17, 2026. Cost ratio FAILS decisively: efficiency ratio 68.41% in 2026Q2, +0.3 points QoQ, +2.4 points YoY, +3.4 points over three years, deteriorating on every horizon and sitting elevated, not recovered.
Efficiency ratio elevated
MetIts costs are high against its income. Banks report this number every quarter and watch it closely, so a bad one already has the board’s attention.
Efficiency ratio 68.41% at 2026Q2, inside the 55 to 70% community-bank norm but in its upper half (68.41% is above the ~62.5% midpoint).
Headcount absorption strain
MetIt has added people far faster than it has added business. That is what taking on work you cannot yet absorb looks like from the outside.
The record declines the structural reading. Assets grew 95.1% over the same period, so assets per employee rose 16.9%. That is leverage gained rather than work being absorbed by hand, and the criterion rests on the headcount growth alone.
FDIC employee series: 347 (2023Q2) to 579 (2026Q2), +66.9% over three years, far above the ~15% threshold.
Conversion or operations hiring
MetIt is advertising for the roles a system conversion needs: loan operations, deposit operations, reconciliation. Banks staffing up for that work usually show it before they talk about it.
Open posting: "Loan Support Specialist - Dublin, GA" posted 2026-08-10, a loan-operations support function, the closest match to the criterion's loan-operations titles; also "Treasury Management Specialist" and "Portfolio Assistant - Dublin". No core-conversion or data-migration titles detected.
11 NexTier Bank, N.A. Fit 67 Timing 92
Its legal merger with Riverside Bank of Dublin closed on 31 August 2026, and the operational merger is scheduled for November. The customer migration has not happened yet, which is the rarest thing on this list.
GATE: US insured depository
MetIt is a US bank whose deposits are federally insured. That matters because insured banks file public financial reports every quarter, which is where most of the evidence below comes from.
Legal name on the FDIC record: NEXTIER BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION; FDIC certificate 7900; primary federal regulator OCC; charter class N.
GATE: Asset band $300M to $10B
MetIt is the right size: big enough to run an operations team, small enough that it buys software rather than building its own.
Total assets $2.93B as of 2026Q2 call report; post-merger approximately $3.2 billion per the September 1, 2026 completion release. Both figures sit inside the band.
GATE: At least 50 employees
MetIt is big enough to have people whose whole job is the back office, which is who this software is sold to.
Employees (full-time equivalent): 313 on the 2026Q2 call report; the three-year trend shows 267 to 313.
Unabsorbed acquisition workload
MetIt has bought another bank and has not finished merging it in. Not that a deal happened, but that the work is visibly still open.
NexTier is the ACQUIRER: "NexTier, Inc. ... has completed its legal merger, effective the close of business on August 31, 2026, with Riverside Bank of Dublin ... The operational merger between NexTier and Riverside is expected to occur in November 2026." Conversion is not complete: the operational merger is still ahead, and the bank's homepage carries live migration artifacts ("Additional Merger Information & FAQs"). The bank is hiring loan-operations capacity. The cost ratio limb holds (efficiency ratio improving, at 49.24%, not elevated), but the workload is UNABSORBED.
Headcount absorption strain
MetIt has added people far faster than it has added business. That is what taking on work you cannot yet absorb looks like from the outside.
The record declines the structural reading. Assets per employee also rose 17.2% over the same period, so this is leverage gained alongside hiring rather than absorption, and it is scored as the standing staffing condition only.
Employees: 267 to 313 (+17.2%) over three years (2023Q2 to 2026Q2).
Conversion or operations hiring
MetIt is advertising for the roles a system conversion needs: loan operations, deposit operations, reconciliation. Banks staffing up for that work usually show it before they talk about it.
Open posting: "Commercial Loan Servicing Specialist at NexTier Bank" (Butler, PA, posted Jun 24, 2026), duties include boarding commercial loans "onto the Bank's core system," "loan documentation and exception tracking," and assisting the "Fiserv Premier Administrator." This is loan-operations capacity being added.
12 Arrow Bank, N.A. Fit 67 Timing 88
Closed its acquisition of Adirondack Bank on 1 July 2026 and has told customers in writing that the systems transition happens in early November. Two routing numbers are published on its site today.
GATE: US insured depository
MetIt is a US bank whose deposits are federally insured. That matters because insured banks file public financial reports every quarter, which is where most of the evidence below comes from.
FDIC certificate 7074, "ARROW BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION", OCC-chartered national bank, Member FDIC.
GATE: Asset band $300M to $10B
MetIt is the right size: big enough to run an operations team, small enough that it buys software rather than building its own.
Total assets $4.46B as of 2026Q2 call report; $5.4B pro forma combined post-Adirondack.
GATE: At least 50 employees
MetIt is big enough to have people whose whole job is the back office, which is who this software is sold to.
Employees (full-time equivalent): 628 on the 2026Q2 call report.
Unabsorbed acquisition workload
MetIt has bought another bank and has not finished merging it in. Not that a deal happened, but that the work is visibly still open.
Arrow is the acquirer or surviving entity: "Adirondack Bank... was merged with and into Arrow Bank" on 2026-07-01, and "The banking system conversion and integration is scheduled to be completed later in 2026". Live migration artifacts: "Former Adirondack Bank Routing Number: 221371709" published alongside Arrow's routing number, a customer transition FAQ, and "customers may continue to see the Adirondack Bank name and logo on certain documents, statements, checks, cards and digital banking platforms during the transition".
Headcount absorption strain
MetIt has added people far faster than it has added business. That is what taking on work you cannot yet absorb looks like from the outside.
The record does not read this as absorption. Assets per employee also rose 0.6%, and the growth tracks two acquisitions rather than work piling up.
Employees 450 to 628 over three years (2023Q2 to 2026Q2), +39.6%, well above the ~15% threshold.
Customer-facing digital layer mid-change
MetCustomers of an acquired bank still log in through a separate page. It is the most visible sign that a merger is unfinished, and anyone can see it.
Named artifacts: "Former Adirondack Bank Routing Number: 221371709" published on the live site; customer FAQ states "Continue using the apps and any online platforms as you normally would. We are planning technology updates in late 2026" and "Our banking systems will transition to Arrow Bank later this year" with "system updates in early November".
13 Community West Bank Fit 67 Timing 88
Absorbed a $1.22B bank on 1 April 2026 and targeted its systems conversion for the quarter now ending. It added 100 staff for the merger, including temporary people to help with the integration.
GATE: US insured depository
MetIt is a US bank whose deposits are federally insured. That matters because insured banks file public financial reports every quarter, which is where most of the evidence below comes from.
FDIC certificate 23030, state-chartered commercial bank, primary federal regulator FDIC, holding company Community West Bancshares.
GATE: Asset band $300M to $10B
MetIt is the right size: big enough to run an operations team, small enough that it buys software rather than building its own.
Total assets $5.02B as of 2026Q2 call report; US Banks Atlas shows $3.7B as of Q1 2026 (pre-merger-close figure, both dates are correct).
GATE: At least 50 employees
MetIt is big enough to have people whose whole job is the back office, which is who this software is sold to.
417 full-time equivalent employees on the 2026Q2 call report; firmographics lookup also reports 417.
Unabsorbed acquisition workload
MetIt has bought another bank and has not finished merging it in. Not that a deal happened, but that the work is visibly still open.
Acquirer-side COMPLETED event: Community West Bank absorbed United Security Bank of Fresno, CA ($1.22B in assets; 14 branches transferred) effective 2026-04-03. Conversion NOT complete: homepage today carries a live customer conversion notice, "Welcome United Security Bank clients. Find important conversion information, transition resources, and frequently asked questions", and the systems conversion is targeted for Q3 2026, the quarter now ending. Cost ratio NOT recovered: efficiency ratio deteriorated +3.9 points QoQ (55.47% 2026Q1 to 59.36% 2026Q2). Operations strain present: "The Company added 100 full-time equivalent employees as a result of the Merger, including temporary employees to assist with systems integrations".
Headcount absorption strain
MetIt has added people far faster than it has added business. That is what taking on work you cannot yet absorb looks like from the outside.
FDIC employee series: 264 (2023Q2) to 417 (2026Q2), +58.0% over three years, well above the ~15% threshold. The growth is largely acquisition-driven (two mergers in the window).
Customer-facing digital layer mid-change
MetCustomers of an acquired bank still log in through a separate page. It is the most visible sign that a merger is unfinished, and anyone can see it.
Named artifact, live today: homepage banner "Merger Announcement, Welcome United Security Bank clients. Find important conversion information, transition resources, and frequently asked questions by clicking below"; the Form 425 states "Once our core systems transition timeline is determined, USB clients will be notified regarding what to expect with the conversion of their banking products and services".
14 Ion Bank Fit 67 Timing 88
Absorbed a $645.2M bank in April 2025 and signed a second merger on 20 May 2026, targeted to close in October. Its efficiency ratio rose 5.75 points across the two quarters after the first deal closed.
GATE: US insured depository
MetIt is a US bank whose deposits are federally insured. That matters because insured banks file public financial reports every quarter, which is where most of the evidence below comes from.
FDIC certificate 18198, state-chartered commercial bank, Federal Reserve member, primary regulator FED, "Member FDIC".
GATE: Asset band $300M to $10B
MetIt is the right size: big enough to run an operations team, small enough that it buys software rather than building its own.
Total assets $2.78B as of 2026Q2 call report; $2.77B as of Q1 2026.
GATE: At least 50 employees
MetIt is big enough to have people whose whole job is the back office, which is who this software is sold to.
Employees (full-time equivalent): 371 on the 2026Q2 call report; Revelio Labs reports 424 as of March 2026.
Unabsorbed acquisition workload
MetIt has bought another bank and has not finished merging it in. Not that a deal happened, but that the work is visibly still open.
Ion is the acquirer in two live events. COMPLETED: FDIC structure record shows 2025-04-28 "Participated in Absorbtion/Consolidation/Merger, absorbed NVE Bank of Englewood, NJ ($645.2M in assets); 11 branches transferred". Cost ratio FAILS: efficiency ratio 72.60% (2026Q2), 73.49% (2026Q1), 78.63% (2025Q4), the level remains above the 55 to 70% norm. SIGNED, NOT CLOSED: merger agreement with The Cooperative Bank dated May 20, 2026, Ion Bank the surviving entity, target close fall 2026.
Efficiency ratio elevated
MetIts costs are high against its income. Banks report this number every quarter and watch it closely, so a bad one already has the board’s attention.
Efficiency ratio 72.60% at 2026Q2, above the ~70% threshold and above the 55 to 70% community-bank norm; three-year level 71.5% to 72.6% (+1.1 points).
Headcount absorption strain
MetIt has added people far faster than it has added business. That is what taking on work you cannot yet absorb looks like from the outside.
The record declines the structural reading. Assets per employee also rose 8.4% against 29.4% asset growth, so no absorption claim rests on this figure.
FDIC call-report employee series: 311 (2023Q2) to 371 (2026Q2), +19.3% over three years, above the ~15% threshold.
15 Bank First, N.A. Fit 67 Timing 88
Absorbed a $1.59B bank on 1 January 2026, converted its core during the second quarter, and signed a second acquisition in May targeted to close on 4 December. The efficiency ratio is 7.3 points worse year over year.
GATE: US insured depository
MetIt is a US bank whose deposits are federally insured. That matters because insured banks file public financial reports every quarter, which is where most of the evidence below comes from.
FDIC certificate 5304, legal name BANK FIRST N.A., OCC-chartered national bank, Member FDIC.
GATE: Asset band $300M to $10B
MetIt is the right size: big enough to run an operations team, small enough that it buys software rather than building its own.
Total assets $5.94B at 2026Q2 on the FDIC call report; $5,944,186 thousand on the ibanknet fast facts.
GATE: At least 50 employees
MetIt is big enough to have people whose whole job is the back office, which is who this software is sold to.
554 full-time-equivalent employees on the 2026Q2 call report.
Unabsorbed acquisition workload
MetIt has bought another bank and has not finished merging it in. Not that a deal happened, but that the work is visibly still open.
Bank First is the acquirer and survivor: it absorbed The First National Bank and Trust Company of Beloit, WI ($1.59B in assets, 18 branches transferred) effective 2026-01-01 per the FDIC structure record. Conversion: "Conversion of Centre's core data processing system onto Bank First's platform occurred during the second quarter of 2026", complete. Cost ratio: NOT recovered, the efficiency ratio deteriorated +7.3 points year over year (44.61% 2025Q2 to 51.86% 2026Q2) and printed 56.12% in 2026Q1, the quarter after close. A second whole-bank acquisition (PSB Holdings, $202.9M, expected close December 4, 2026) is signed and pending.
Headcount absorption strain
MetIt has added people far faster than it has added business. That is what taking on work you cannot yet absorb looks like from the outside.
The record declines the structural reading. Assets per employee rose 4.4% over the same period, so this is not evidence of absorbing work with people, and the criterion scores the standing headcount growth itself.
FDIC employee series: 398 FTE (2023Q2) to 554 FTE (2026Q2), +39.2% over three years, well above the ~15% threshold.
Customer-facing digital layer mid-change
MetCustomers of an acquired bank still log in through a separate page. It is the most visible sign that a merger is unfinished, and anyone can see it.
A dated platform switch is named: "First National Bank and Trust will continue to operate as a division of Bank First until the planned system conversion in May 2026. At that time, all locations will transition to the unified Bank First brand and digital banking platform"; the conversion occurred during Q2 2026. A second customer-facing transition is queued with the PSB Holdings merger (expected close December 4, 2026).
Nothing clears both thresholds.
Lower one of them to bring companies back. A market where almost nothing clears a bar is a finding in itself, and working out where the bar belongs is part of what a first month settles.
Two companies can sit level on fit and nowhere near each other on timing. That is why you are looking at two numbers rather than one, and why we never add them together.
This is one market. Yours is the one that matters.
We would build the same instrument for your market: the traits your best customers share, turned into facts we can verify before a conversation, then every company read against them and scored the same two ways.