A Birmingham opening in 2005
ServisFirst Bank began in Birmingham, Alabama, in May 2005. Its name expressed a straightforward ambition: compete through service to businesses, professionals and their owners. Thomas A. Broughton III, generally known as Tom Broughton, has led the bank since its beginning. The FDIC identifies the insured institution as certificate 57993, established May 2, 2005. [1][3][4]
The legal parent arrived later. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. was formed in August 2007 and owns the bank. Its public-company financial statements consolidate the group; the bank remains the institution that makes loans and accepts deposits. The company’s history marks its initial public offering in May 2014, giving investors a way to own shares in the holding company rather than turning deposit accounts into equity investments. [3][4]
Expansion by local teams
The first expansion followed Alabama business centers: Huntsville in 2006, Montgomery in 2007 and Dothan in 2008. Pensacola followed in 2011, then Mobile and Nashville. The current history lists later growth across the Southeast and an entry into Houston in December 2025. These dates describe market openings, not a claim that every location began with the same size or product range. [3]
The bank’s stated model relies on experienced bankers developing customer relationships rather than building many retail branches in each market. Its 2025 filing describes a limited branch network supporting large aggregate loan and deposit balances. Regional leaders make decisions locally, while common back-office, credit and risk systems provide the operating framework. [4]
Local authority is not unlimited. Individual lenders receive approval limits based on experience; loans above those limits require additional approval from regional leadership or senior management. The arrangement tries to combine familiarity with a borrower’s circumstances and consistent controls across a bank operating in multiple states. That is the mechanism behind the company’s description of decentralized banking, rather than a promise that every loan receives an immediate local answer. [4]
Organic growth, with an Atlanta exception
ServisFirst generally describes its expansion as organic: hiring teams, attracting deposits and making loans through its own operations. Atlanta supplies a notable exception. In January 2015, the group acquired Metro Bancshares, adding an existing banking business in that market. The acquisition belongs in the history alongside new-office openings, rather than being presented as another example of growth without a purchase. [3][4]
This distinction matters because buying a bank brings existing loans, deposits and operating systems, while a newly recruited team builds those relationships over time. Both can enlarge the franchise, but they create different integration tasks and financial comparisons. ServisFirst’s own chronology shows that its present network was not produced by a single method. [3][4]
The daily work behind commercial banking
A commercial customer may need a line of credit for inventory, a building loan, a way to collect customer payments and a place to keep cash for payroll. ServisFirst offers lending alongside treasury management, merchant services, international banking and remote deposit capture. Remote deposit allows a business to submit checks electronically rather than sending an employee to a branch every time. [3][4]
The bank also serves individuals, including mortgages and private banking, but its business focus shapes the relationship. A professional practice or company owner can have both commercial and personal financial needs. The model seeks connected relationships across those needs, without requiring the same physical branch density as a mass-market retail bank. This is the company’s operating strategy, not an independent finding that its service is better than competitors’. [3][4]
A bank for other banks
In March 2011, ServisFirst established its correspondent banking division. A correspondent bank provides services to other financial institutions, allowing a smaller bank to obtain capabilities it may not operate entirely itself. ServisFirst’s current company page says the division serves 392 active banks and issues credit cards for 150 community banks. These are disclosed service relationships, not branches or separately owned subsidiaries. [3]
The business extends the bank’s reach beyond its own signs and offices. A customer may encounter a community bank’s card program while an underlying service is supplied by ServisFirst. For ServisFirst, institutional relationships can combine payments, deposit services and other banking work; for its bank customers, the arrangement can broaden services without creating every component internally. The counts are an undated company-page snapshot reviewed October 5, 2026, rather than a guaranteed future total. [3][4]
Growth still depends on credit and funding
The 2025 filing identifies the spread between interest earned on loans and investments and interest paid for funding as the principal source of earnings. Relationships help attract deposits, but deposit costs can change, and business or property borrowers can encounter difficulties. A concentrated branch model does not eliminate those ordinary banking risks. [4]
Broughton remains identified as chairman, president and chief executive on the current bank page. The continuity links the founding idea to the present franchise, but the bank’s financial position is best measured with dated figures rather than claims of consistent performance. The FDIC snapshot below reports the insured bank separately from the listed parent. [3][4]
The insured bank at June 30, 2026
The FDIC reports $18.344 billion of assets, $14.573 billion of deposits, $14.312 billion of net loans and leases, and $2.007 billion of equity for the insured bank at June 30, 2026. Net income of $169.561 million covers the first six months of 2026. These bank-only figures are converted from thousands of dollars; they are not the parent company’s consolidated results or a standalone second-quarter profit. [2]
Real-estate loans totaled $11.170 billion, or approximately 77.1% of gross loans and leases. That broad regulatory category is not synonymous with commercial real estate. Securities totaled $1.631 billion. These amounts describe the bank’s balance sheet on one date, while the history and business model explain how it arrived there. [2]
Sources
- FDIC institution directory, October 2, 2026 index; reviewed October 5Official sourceBack to text: ↑
- FDIC June 30, 2026 bank financials; dollar fields in thousands; income year to dateOfficial sourceBack to text: ↑1↑2
- ServisFirst Bank official history, services and leadership; reviewed October 5, 2026SourceBack to text: ↑1↑2↑3↑4↑5↑6↑7↑8↑9↑10
- ServisFirst Bancshares 2025 Form 10-K, signed February 26, 2026Filing / reportBack to text: ↑1↑2↑3↑4↑5↑6↑7↑8↑9↑10↑11