NEWS

Payment apps like Venmo, Cash App, PayPal, and others are quick, convenient, and have changed how we shop online – or how we pay for a shared Friday night dinner with friends.

First Quarter Financial Results: The first quarter was a strong start to the year with healthy loan growth and increasing profitability," said Mark Hardwick, Chief Executive Officer of First Merchants Bank. "Our 2025 priorities continue to focus on organic loan growth funded by low-cost core deposits, margin stabilization, fee income growth, expense management and credit quality. Given the market volatility and headlines, we are closely monitoring our clients and our markets but have yet to see any signs of stress.

In 2024, First Merchants Bank received four awards from the workplace culture site Comparably, including Best Company Leadership, Career Growth, Work-Life Balance, and CEO. The bank was selected from 70,000 companies across the United States.

Fourth Quarter Financial Results: First Merchants Corporation (the “Corporation”) reported fourth quarter 2024 net income available to common stockholders of $63.9 million compared to $42.0 million during the same period in 2023. Diluted earnings per common share for the period totaled $1.10 compared to the fourth quarter of 2023 result of $0.71. Excluding non-core income and expenses incurred in each period, adjusted net income available to common stockholders1 for the fourth quarter 2024 was $58.1 million, or $1.00 diluted earnings per common share compared to $53.4 million, or $0.90 in the same period in 2023.

It’s a common misconception that people who fall victim to fraud and scams are gullible or that fraud primarily affects our elders. In reality, anyone can fall prey to scammers.