Colony Bankcorp, Inc. (‘Colony’) operates as a holding company for Colony Bank (‘bank’) that provides a broad range of banking services to its retail and commercial customers.
The company is a financial services company. The company operates locations throughout Georgia, as well as in Birmingham, Alabama; Tallahassee, Florida; and the Florida Panhandle.
Because the company is a financial services company and a registered bank holding company, its principal operations are conducted through the...
Colony Bankcorp, Inc. (‘Colony’) operates as a holding company for Colony Bank (‘bank’) that provides a broad range of banking services to its retail and commercial customers.
The company is a financial services company. The company operates locations throughout Georgia, as well as in Birmingham, Alabama; Tallahassee, Florida; and the Florida Panhandle.
Because the company is a financial services company and a registered bank holding company, its principal operations are conducted through the bank. It has 100 percent ownership of the bank and maintains systems of financial, operational, and administrative controls that permit centralized evaluation of the operations of the bank in selected functional areas, including operations, accounting, marketing, investment management, purchasing, human resources, computer services, auditing, compliance, and credit review. As a bank holding company, the company also performs certain shareholder and investor relations functions.
Colony Bank - Banking Services
The company’s principal subsidiary is the bank. The bank, headquartered in Fitzgerald, Georgia, offers a comprehensive range of banking solutions tailored to both personal and commercial customers. The company’s lending solutions include loans for small and medium-sized businesses, residential and commercial construction, land development, and commercial real estate. The company also provides commercial loans, agri-business and production loans, residential mortgages, home equity loans, and consumer loans. In addition to traditional lending, it offers specialized loan programs, including government-guaranteed loans through the company’s Small Business Specialty Lending (‘SBSL’) department and financing for marine and recreational vehicles.
The company’s deposit products serve as the primary funding source for its loans and are designed to meet the needs of both individuals and businesses. The company offers a variety of noninterest-bearing and interest-bearing accounts, including checking, savings, money market, and other deposit options. The company’s focus is on expanding core deposits while strengthening customer relationships. To complement the company’s deposit offerings, it also provides treasury solutions, merchant services, and other financial tools that support businesses in managing cash flow and operational efficiency.
The company also offers internet banking services, electronic bill payment services, safe deposit box rentals, telephone banking, credit and debit card services, remote depository products, and access to a network of ATMs to its customers. The bank conducts its business through thirty-four offices located in north, central, south, and coastal Georgia cities of Fitzgerald, Warner Robins, Centerville, Ashburn, Leesburg, Cordele, Albany, LaGrange, Columbus, Sylvester, Tifton, Moultrie, Douglas, Broxton, Savannah, Eastman, Fayetteville, Rochelle, Rockmart, Cedartown, Chickamauga, Atlanta, Athens, Augusta, Macon, Manchester, Quitman, Thomaston, Valdosta, and Statesboro, Georgia, along with a corporate banking office in Birmingham, Alabama, and a loan production office in Tallahassee, Florida.
Correspondents
Colony Bank has correspondent relationships with the following banks: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, FHN Financial in Memphis, Tennessee, SouthState Bank in Lake Wales, Florida, ServisFirst in Birmingham, Alabama, and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta. These correspondent relationships facilitate the transaction of business by means of loans, collections, investment services, lines of credit, and exchange services, particularly in markets in which Colony Bank does not have a physical presence. As compensation for these services, the bank maintains balances with its correspondents in primarily interest-bearing accounts and pays some service charges.
Investment Portfolio
As of December 31, 2024, the company’s investment portfolio included U.S. treasury securities, U.S. agency, asset-backed securities, state, county, and municipal securities, corporate debt securities, and mortgage-backed securities.
Deposits
As of December 31, 2024, the company’s deposits included noninterest-bearing demand deposits, interest-bearing demand and savings deposits, and time deposits.
Supervision and Regulation
The company is registered as a bank holding company with the Federal Reserve under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended (the ‘BHC Act’), and has elected to be treated as a financial holding company.
The company and Colony Bank must each remain ‘well-capitalized’ and ‘well-managed’, and Colony Bank must receive a CRA rating of at least ‘Satisfactory’ at its most recent examination in order for the company to maintain its status as a financial holding company.
Under the Change in Bank Control Act and the regulations thereunder, a person or group must give advance notice to the Federal Reserve before acquiring control of any bank holding company, such as the company, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (‘FDIC’) before acquiring control of the bank.
The company is required to comply with various corporate governance and financial reporting requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as well as rules and regulations adopted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (‘SEC’), the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, and the New York Stock Exchange. The company has evaluated its controls, including compliance with the SEC rules on internal controls, and has, and expects to continue to spend significant amounts of time and money on compliance with these rules.
The company and its subsidiaries are subject to oversight by the SEC, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (‘FINRA’), the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the New York Stock Exchange, and various state securities regulators. The company and its subsidiaries have, from time to time, received requests for information from regulatory authorities in various states, including state attorneys general, securities regulators, and other regulatory authorities, concerning their business practices.
The bank is subject to comprehensive supervision and regulation by the FDIC and is subject to its regulatory reporting requirements. The bank also is subject to certain Federal Reserve regulations. In addition, the bank and any other of the company’s subsidiaries that offer consumer financial products and services are subject to regulation and potential supervision by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (‘CFPB’). Authority to supervise and examine the company and the bank for compliance with federal consumer laws remains largely with the Federal Reserve and the FDIC, respectively.
The bank’s deposits are insured by the FDIC’s Deposit Insurance Fund (‘DIF’) up to the limits under applicable law, which currently are set at $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category. The bank is subject to FDIC assessments for its deposit insurance.
The bank is subject to the provisions of the Community Reinvestment Act (‘CRA’), which imposes a continuing and affirmative obligation, consistent with its safe and sound operation, to help meet the credit needs of entire communities where the bank accepts deposits, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. The FDIC’s assessment of the bank’s CRA record is made available to the public. The bank has a rating of ‘Satisfactory’ in its most recent CRA evaluation.
The bank is also subject to, among other things, the provisions of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (the ‘ECOA’) and the Fair Housing Act (the ‘FHA’), both of which prohibit discrimination based on race or color, religion, national origin, sex, and familial status in any aspect of a consumer or commercial credit or residential real estate transaction.
History
Colony Bankcorp, Inc. was founded in 1975. The company, a Georgia business corporation, was incorporated in 1982.