Heartland in Iowa mulls charter consolidation

Heartland Financial USA in Dubuque, Iowa, is evaluating a plan to consolidate its 11 bank charters. 

Bruce Lee, the $11.9 billion-asset company’s president and CEO, said in a press release Monday that the analysis is part of a broader effort “to explore ways to improve operational efficiency.” 

Heartland said its initial analysis suggests that collapsing the charters would lead to revenue synergies and expense reductions of 3% to 5% of its existing cost base.

The company said it expects to discuss the process in more detail later this year when the evaluation is complete.

The sizes of the charters range from Minnesota Bank & Trust, at $873 million of assets, to First Bank & Trust, with $2.9 billion of assets.