Meta Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CASH), is the holding company for federally chartered savings bank MetaBank, Member FDIC. Headquartered in Sioux Falls, S.D., MetaBank operates three distinct businesses: MetaBank, its retail banking division; Meta Payment Systems, its electronic payments division; and AFS/IBEX, its insurance premium finance division.
MetaBank, the retail banking division, operates 10 retail branches in four market areas: Central Iowa; Storm Lake, Iowa; Brookings, S.D.; and Sioux Falls, S.D. Based in Sioux Falls, MetaBank offers traditional banking services designed to serve the needs of individual, agricultural and business depositors and borrowers.
Meta Payment Systems (MPS) provides payment solutions delivered nationally in collaboration with its partners. MPS focuses on offering product solutions in the following areas: prepaid cards, credit products, ACH origination and ATM sponsorship.
AFS/IBEX provides short-term, collateralized financing to facilitate the purchase of insurance for commercial property, casualty and liability risk. Based in Dallas, Texas, AFS/IBEX originates loans through a network of independent insurance agencies.
History
Founding
MetaBank's predecessor, Storm Lake Savings and Loan Association, was founded in 1954 by Stanly H. Haahr and 34 depositors with an original subscribed capital of $10,000. In 1957, the bank was converted to a federal charter and its name was changed to First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Storm Lake.
The bank purchased the Bradford Hotel property in Storm Lake at Fifth and Erie in 1970, and construction was completed on the bank's new headquarters in 1972. By 1993, the bank changed its name from First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Storm Lake to First Federal Savings Bank of the Midwest, a subsidiary of First Midwest Financial, Inc. On Sept. 20, 1993, 1.9 million shares of stock in First Midwest Financial, Inc., were issued at $10 per share and began trading on the NASDAQ stock market under the symbol "CASH."
Acquisitions
In 1994, Brookings Federal Bank, a federal savings bank in Brookings, S.D., was acquired and operated as the Brookings Federal Bank Division of First Federal Savings Bank of the Midwest. In 1995, Iowa Savings Bank in Des Moines was purchased and operated as the Iowa Savings Bank Division of First Federal Savings Bank of the Midwest.
In 2014, MetaBank announced the acquisition of AFS/IBEX Financial Services Inc., an insurance premium financing company based in Dallas, Texas.
Expansion
First Federal opened the doors to its first Sioux Falls office - a temporary facility - on Sept. 6, 2000. In 2004, the Meta Payment Systems (MPS) division was established in Sioux Falls. The next year, in 2005, all bank divisions under First Federal changed their names to MetaBank, inhabiting four market areas: Central Iowa; Northwest Iowa; Brookings, S.D.; and Sioux Falls, S.D.
In 2009, MetaBank introduced a new retail product line and the MPS division became the leading issuer of rebate and gift cards in the United States and worldwide and one of the top issuers of Visa, MasterCard and Discover prepaid cards.
In 2014, MPS signed agreements to partner with hyperWALLET Systems Inc., a Vancouver-based company that provides domestic and international mass payment solutions for corporations, and financial services provider UniRush, LLC.
In 2015, MPS signed agreements to partner with Berkeley Payment Solutions, a Toronto-based company that provides domestic and international prepaid payment solutions for corporations; Univision Communications Inc., a media company serving Hispanic America; and Store Financial, a Kansas-based company that provides electronic-card-payment innovations, prepaid programs, mobile solutions and commercial payments. That same year, the AFS/IBEX division was selected by the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) to be its exclusive premium finance company of choice.
Corporate Governance
MetaBank was founded as Storm Lake Savings and Loan Association in 1954 by Stanley H. Haahr, who remained on the Board of Directors until 1990 and served as board chairman from 1981-90. James S. Haahr assumed the role of President and Chief Executive Officer of Meta Financial Group, Inc., in 1993. J. Tyler Haahr took over the position of President and CEO in 2005. And in 2011, James S. Haahr announced his resignation as Chairman of the Board after more than half a century in the position. J. Tyler Haahr was named Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
Brad Hanson has served as President of the Meta Payment Systems division since its inception in 2004. He was appointed President of Meta Financial Group and MetaBank in 2013.
Locations
MetaBank is headquartered in Sioux Falls, S.D. The retail banking division has locations in four market areas: Central Iowa; Storm Lake, Iowa; Brookings, S.D.; and Sioux Falls, S.D. There are branch locations in the following cities:
- Brookings, S.D.
- Des Moines, Iowa
- Sioux Falls, S.D.
- Storm Lake, Iowa
- Urbandale, Iowa
- West Des Moines, Iowa
The Meta Payment Systems division is headquartered in Sioux Falls, S.D. The AFS/IBEX division is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with an additional office in Newport Beach, Calif.
Awards and Honors
MetaBank was included among the Sandler O'Neill and Partners "Bank and Thrift Sm-All Stars - Class of 2012," which ranked the top 25 performing small-cap banks in the country. MetaBank was also named fifth in the nation among top-performing, mid-size banks by the American Banking Association Journal in 2013. MetaBank ranked among the top 25 among the nation's community banks and thrifts, according to American Banker Magazine, in 2013 and was named to the Top 200 Community Banks and Thrifts list again in 2014.
Meta Payment Systems division cofounder and MetaBank President Brad Hanson received a 2009 Industry Achievement Award from Paybefore in 2009. MetaBank's Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer John Hagy was named among the Top 10 Payments Lawyers by Paybefore in 2015.
Controversy
In October 2010, MetaBank was ordered by bank regulators of the federal Office of Thrift Supervision (since subsumed as part of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency) to halt use of its iAdvance lending program associated with some prepaid MetaBank-issued debit cards, claiming the loans violated unfair or deceptive trade practice laws. The iAdvance program offered MetaBank debit card holders with the direct deposit feature an option to withdraw or spend funds when their account held an insufficient balance, with the shortage to be advanced by a payday loan secured by their next upcoming direct deposit. The loans had a maximum term of 35 days and a transaction fee of $2.50 for each $20 increment of the advance. Effective Aug. 7, 2014, the OCC's consent order was terminated and MetaBank was released.
References
ArrayExternal links
- MetaBank Official Website
- Meta Financial Group, Inc. Official Website
- Meta Payment Systems Official Website
- AFS/IBEX Official Website
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