About West Bancorporation

West Bancorporation, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for West Bank that provides various banking products and services. The company provides full-service community banking and trust services to customers located primarily in the following metropolitan areas: Des Moines, Coralville and Iowa City, Iowa, and Rochester, Owatonna, Mankato and St. Cloud, Minnesota. West Bank has offices in the Des Moines area, Coralville, Iowa and in each of its four Minnesota markets. The company offers many types of credit to its customers, including commercial, real estate and consumer loans. The company offers trust services, including the administration of estates, conservatorships, personal trusts and agency accounts. The company offers a full range of deposit services, including checking, savings and money market accounts and time certificates of deposit. The company also offers online banking, mobile banking and treasury management services, which help to meet the banking needs of its customers. Treasury management services offered to business customers include cash management, client-generated automated clearing house transactions, remote deposit and fraud protection services. Also offered are merchant credit card processing and corporate credit cards. The company’s markets are home to major financial services companies, healthcare systems, educational institutions, technology and agribusiness companies, and state and local governments. The company’s markets host major employers, such as Principal Financial Group, Wells Fargo, Hy-Vee, John Deere, Mayo Clinic, University of Iowa, University of Iowa Health Care, MercyOne, UnityPoint Health, CentraCare Health Systems and IBM. The company operates in the following markets: central Iowa, which is generally the greater Des Moines metropolitan area; eastern Iowa, which includes the area surrounding Iowa City and Coralville; and southern Minnesota, which includes the cities of Rochester, Owatonna, Mankato and St. Cloud. The company has a significant portion of its loan portfolio in commercial real estate loans, commercial lines of credit, commercial term loans, and construction and land development loans. The company’s typical commercial borrower is a small- or medium-sized, privately owned business entity. Compared to residential mortgages or consumer loans, commercial loans typically have larger balances and repayment usually depends on the borrowers’ successful business operations. Commercial loans also generally are not fully repaid over the loan period and, thus, may require refinancing or a large payoff at maturity. Commercial loans consist primarily of loans to businesses for various purposes, including revolving lines to finance current operations, inventory and accounts receivable, and capital expenditure loans to finance equipment and other fixed assets. These loans generally have short maturities, have either adjustable or fixed interest rates, and are either unsecured or secured by inventory, accounts receivable and/or fixed assets. For commercial loans, the primary source of repayment is from the operation of the business. Real estate loans include various types of loans for which the company holds real property as collateral, and consist of loans on commercial properties and single and multifamily residences. Real estate loans are typically structured to mature or reprice every five to ten years with payments based on amortization periods up to 30 years. The majority of construction loans are to contractors and developers for construction of commercial buildings or residential real estate. These loans typically have maturities of up to 24 months. The company's loan policy includes minimum appraisal and other credit guidelines. Consumer loans include loans extended to individuals for household, family and other personal expenditures not secured by real estate. The majority of the company's consumer lending is for vehicles, consolidation of personal debts and household improvements. The repayment source for consumer loans, including 1-4 family residential and home equity loans, is typically wages. Investment Portfolio As of December 31, 2023, the company’s investment portfolio included state and political subdivisions; collateralized mortgage obligations; mortgage-backed securities; collateralized loan obligations; and corporate notes. Strategy The company’s business strategy emphasizes strong business and personal relationships between the bank and its customers and the delivery of products and services that meet the individualized needs of those customers. The company also emphasizes strong cost controls, while striving to achieve an above average return on equity. The company focuses on small- to medium-sized businesses in its local markets that traditionally wish to develop an exclusive relationship with a single bank. The company has the size to provide the personal attention required by local business owners and the financial expertise and entrepreneurial attitude to help businesses meet their financial service needs. Supervision and Regulation As a financial holding company, the company is registered with, and subject to regulation by, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended (BHCA). The deposit accounts of the bank are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC’s) Deposit Insurance Fund to the maximum extent provided under federal law and FDIC regulations, $250,000 per insured depositor category. Under the BHCA, the company is subject to periodic examination by the Federal Reserve and are required to file with the Federal Reserve periodic reports of the company’s operations and such additional information regarding its operations as the Federal Reserve may require. As an Iowa-chartered FDIC-insured bank, the bank is subject to the examination, supervision, reporting and enforcement requirements of the Iowa Division of Banking, the chartering authority for Iowa banks, and the FDIC, designated by federal law as the primary federal regulator of insured state banks that, like the bank, are not members of the Federal Reserve System (nonmember banks). As an FDIC-insured institution, the bank is required to pay deposit insurance premium assessments to the FDIC. The Community Reinvestment Act requires the bank to have a continuing and affirmative obligation in a safe and sound manner to help meet the credit needs of its entire community, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. The company’s common stock is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (Exchange Act). Consequently, the company is subject to the information, proxy solicitation, insider trading and other restrictions and requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Exchange Act. History West Bancorporation, Inc. was founded in 1893. The company was incorporated in 1938.