Home finance shaped the institution long before its current name
WaFd began in 1917 as Ballard Savings and Loan Association, serving the fishing and lumber community north of Seattle. Its founding purpose was to provide home finance. The organization later took a federal charter, converted from mutual to stock ownership in 1982 and adopted a holding-company structure. That path created a public banking group from an institution originally built around local savings and home ownership. [3]
Today WaFd Bank is the Seattle-based Washington-chartered insured bank at FDIC certificate 28088. WaFd, Inc. is its separate publicly traded parent. The bank formally changed its legal name from Washington Federal Bank in September 2025, although the WaFd brand was already in use. The distinction is useful when reading older merger documents: an earlier reference to Washington Federal Bank can describe the same surviving bank rather than a different institution. [2][8]
Luther Burbank opened California, with a portfolio attached
The acquisition of Luther Burbank Corporation became effective on March 1, 2024, following a February 29 closing. The holding company merged into WaFd, Inc., and Luther Burbank Savings merged into the bank then legally named Washington Federal Bank. The acquired shareholder consideration was 0.3353 WaFd shares for each Luther Burbank share. This was a completed acquisition, distinct from the later proposed EverBank transaction. [4]
California brought a new geographic platform, but acquiring a branch franchise also means inheriting its lending and deposit mix. WaFd did not simply retain every acquired asset unchanged. Its subsequent loan sale showed how management could preserve the customer and market presence it wanted while reducing the amount of acquired credit held on the balance sheet. Purchase accounting and later asset dispositions consequently matter to any interpretation of growth. [3][4][5]
The multifamily sale separated market entry from asset retention
On June 21, 2024, the bank completed the sale of approximately 1,800 commercial multifamily loans to Bank of America, N.A. The disclosed purchase price was $2.6 billion, or 91.96% of the $2.8 billion unpaid principal balance. These amounts measure transaction proceeds relative to borrower principal, not automatically an accounting loss of the same percentage. An acquired loan can already have been recorded below its contractual principal balance. [5]
Selling a large portfolio releases funding tied to those loans and transfers future collections and credit exposure to the buyer, subject to transaction terms. It also removes the associated interest income. The strategic question is therefore the use of the released capacity and the economics of the franchise that remains. Loan sales can reshape a bank more quickly than waiting for a long-duration mortgage portfolio to amortize.
The mortgage exit changed new business before it changed the whole bank
In January 2025, WaFd stopped originating single-family home mortgages and home-equity lines. In its account of the fiscal year, management described mortgage origination as increasingly commoditized and argued that government-supported competitors and technology compressed the opportunity for its model. These are management’s explanations for the decision, not an independent finding that mortgage lending is unattractive to every bank. [6][8]
The bank redirected effort toward business customers, including Small Business Administration lending. The choice changes the flow of newly originated assets before it changes the stock of existing loans. A retained mortgage continues to earn interest and require servicing after new applications stop; it also keeps its repayment and interest-rate characteristics. WaFd’s transformation consequently depends on the pace of legacy repayments alongside the growth of commercial relationships, rather than a single exit announcement. [6]
Business banking joins credit with everyday operating accounts
WaFd’s small-business offering combines checking, business lines of credit, SBA financing and payment services. This is a different relationship model from supplying a stand-alone home loan. A business may need seasonal working capital, transaction processing and a place to hold operating cash throughout the year. Providing those services together gives the bank more opportunities for deposits and fee income around a credit relationship. Product availability does not establish how many customers use the complete offering. [7]
The risks also change. A revolving business line depends on the borrower’s cash conversion and operating condition; a property loan depends more directly on rents, development progress or a refinancing event. Government-guaranteed lending introduces its own eligibility, servicing and documentation requirements. Moving toward business banking broadens the service relationship but still requires underwriting and operational capabilities specific to each product.
The standalone balance sheet still carries the old model
At June 30, 2026, WaFd Bank reported $27.577 billion of assets, $21.051 billion of deposits, $20.021 billion of net loans and leases and $3.028 billion of equity capital. Its FDIC-reported net income was $135.913 million for the calendar six months through June. Those bank figures differ in both entity scope and reporting period from the parent’s fiscal-year earnings presentation. [1]
Net loans were 95.1% of deposits and deposits were 76.3% of assets, calculated from the same return. These simple ratios do not measure available , and equity includes accounting items that differ from regulatory capital. In the parent’s loan table, single-family residential loans still represented 34.2% of gross loans, while commercial categories represented 64.0%. That table’s gross measure also includes loans in process and other deductions before reaching reported net loans. It cannot be substituted for the FDIC net-loan balance. [8]
Funding is being repriced while commercial exposure grows
WaFd’s July 16, 2026 earnings release reported a $439 million increase in transaction accounts during the first nine months of its fiscal year, alongside a $945 million decline in time deposits. Borrowings nevertheless rose to $3.3 billion from $1.8 billion at the preceding September year-end. A shift away from certificates therefore did not mean that every dollar was replaced by lower-cost transaction funding. [9]
The balance-sheet mechanism matters: attracting operating deposits can lower funding expense, while wholesale borrowing may provide flexibility when loan or securities investments grow faster than deposits. The cost depends on rates, collateral and maturity. On credit, the quarterly filing reported $135.7 million of nonperforming assets at June 30. Greater business-lending production does not remove existing mortgage exposure, and a larger commercial-property or construction book creates its own sensitivity to refinancing and project execution. [8]
June profitability improved, with a one-time contribution
WaFd, Inc. earned $66.1 million in the quarter ended June 30, 2026, compared with $62.0 million a year earlier. Because WaFd’s fiscal year ends in September, this was its third fiscal quarter. Net interest margin was 2.81%, unchanged from the immediately preceding quarter. The release also attributed a $4.4 million increase in noninterest income to a gain on the sale of a branch property. That gain should not be treated as a recurring fee stream. [9]
These results describe a transition with several moving parts. Deposit repricing can improve earnings as older funding matures, while legacy mortgages turn over on a different timetable. A property-sale gain can improve the quarter without changing the profitability of new lending. The changing balance sheet therefore matters as much as the headline earnings comparison.
EverBank would accelerate the transition, but remains a proposal
The combination announced on September 7, 2026 would join WaFd’s western branch franchise with EverBank’s digital deposits and specialized lending. Under the proposed structure, EverBank Financial Corp would merge into WaFd, Inc., which would survive and adopt the EverBank name; WaFd Bank would merge into EverBank, N.A., the surviving national bank. The companies projected an early-2027 close, subject to conditions. [10]
Employee materials dated September 28 said EverBank’s ownership group had approved the merger, while WaFd shareholder approval and approvals from the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency remained required. The banks continued to describe themselves as separate institutions pending closing. The June figures therefore remain standalone observations. The proposed combination could change funding channels, loan mix and leadership simultaneously, but projected benefits are not yet earned results. WaFd’s existing shift toward business banking is already under way regardless of that unresolved closing. [11][12]
Sources
- FDIC bank financials, June 30, 2026; dollar fields in thousands and income calendar-year-to-dateOfficial sourceBack to text: ↑
- FDIC institution directory, October 2, 2026 index; legal identity checked October 5, 2026Official sourceBack to text: ↑
- WaFd official company history; Ballard origins, ownership changes and geographic expansionSourceBack to text: ↑1↑2
- Luther Burbank Form 8-K, March 1, 2024; closing date, effective date and surviving legal entitiesFiling / reportBack to text: ↑1↑2
- WaFd Form 8-K, June 21, 2024; completed multifamily loan sale and proceedsFiling / reportBack to text: ↑1↑2
- WaFd fiscal 2025 president and CEO review; mortgage-origination exit and business-banking strategySourceBack to text: ↑1↑2↑3
- WaFd small-business banking products; undated page reviewed October 5, 2026SourceBack to text: ↑
- WaFd Form 10-Q, June 30, 2026; bank identity, loan composition and nonperforming assetsFiling / reportBack to text: ↑1↑2↑3↑4
- WaFd fiscal third-quarter results, July 16, 2026; parent earnings, funding and one-time gainFiling / reportBack to text: ↑1↑2
- EverBank and WaFd merger announcement, September 7, 2026; proposed structure and expected closingSourceBack to text: ↑
- WaFd employee merger FAQs dated September 28, 2026 and filed as SEC soliciting materialFiling / reportBack to text: ↑
- EverBank merger information; separate operations and pending conditions, reviewed October 5, 2026SourceBack to text: ↑