Midland States Bancorp expands Banking-as-a-Service initiative with Synctera partnership

By Edlyn Cardoza

Midland States Bancorp, Inc. recently announced a new partnership with Synctera, which provides consulting and a technology platform connecting banks with FinTech partners. Midland expects to use its partnership with Synctera to develop FinTech partnerships that will contribute to low-cost deposits and increase the number of customers using its payment solutions.

Jeffrey G. Ludwig, President and Chief Executive Officer of Midland States Bancorp, said, “Over the past decade, we have had a very successful fintech partnership with an originator of consumer loans, which has given us valuable experience that we plan to leverage through a broader Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) initiative. One of the goals of our technology investment over the past few years has been to position Midland to effectively compete in the BaaS space, and we are now well prepared to begin adding new fintech relationships and expanding our BaaS capabilities. Through our partnership with Synctera, we intend to be very disciplined in adding new relationships and prudently manage our growth in this area. Over the longer-term, we expect BaaS to become another important catalyst for our earnings growth and further improvement in our financial performance.”

Peter Hazlehurst, Co-Founder and CEO at Synctera, said, “My team has been impressed with the experience and technological know-how Midland already has in the BaaS space. Midland also shares our philosophy that BaaS provides enhanced opportunities for community banks to increase their relevancy across a footprint far wider than their branch network, and that banks that take advantage of this opportunity will have a competitive edge in the future of banking. With Synctera, Midland will be able to broaden the number of fintechs with whom it can easily partner to continue to scale efficiently and grow revenues.”

Midland States Bancorp, Inc. is a community-based financial holding company headquartered in Effingham, Illinois, and is the sole shareholder of Midland States Bank. As of December 31, 2021, the Company had total assets of approximately $7.44 billion, and its Wealth Management Group had assets under administration of approximately $4.22 billion. Midland provides a full range of commercial and consumer banking products and services, business equipment financing, merchant credit card services, trust and investment management, and insurance and financial planning services.