Bank of Choice closed, deposits assumed by Bank Midwest

GREELEY — Bank of Choice was closed today by the Colorado Division of Banking, with Bank Midwest, National Association, based in Kansas City, Mo., assuming all of the deposits of Bank of Choice.

All 17 branches of Bank of Choice, headquartered in Greeley, will reopen during normal business hours beginning Saturday as branches of Bank Midwest. Depositors of Bank of Choice will automatically become depositors of Bank Midwest and deposits will continue to be insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Customers from Bank of Choice will receive a notice from Bank Midwest, N.A., that systems changes have been completed.

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This evening and over the weekend, customers of Bank of Choice can continue to write checks and use ATM and debit cards to access their money, and loan customers should continue to make payments as usual.

As of March 31, Bank of Choice had approximately $1.07 billion in total assets and $924.9 million in deposits. In addition to assuming all of the deposits, Bank Midwest will purchase approximately $853 million of Bank of Choice’s failed assets.

In March, Bank of Choice was issued a corrective action directive by the FDIC, which referred to Bank of Choice as “significantly undercapitalized,” after Bank of Choice reported a Tier 1 leverage capital ratio of 2.31 percent. The FDIC considers a bank to be adequately capitalized if it holds a leverage capital ratio of 4 percent or greater. Tier 1 capital is mainly composed of common stock and reserves.

In May, Bank of Choice President and CEO Joe Bonner told the Business Report Daily that the bank was “in the midst of recapitalizing,” and that the 30-day deadline to raise capital mentioned in the FDIC directive was “not a drop-dead date.”

Bank of Choice is the 58th bank to fail in the nation this year, and the fifth in the state of Colorado. The last FDIC-insured institution closed was Signature Bank, which closed on July 8 and reopened under ownership of Points West Bank.