| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Finance and Insurance |
| Founded | Jacksonville, Florida (1998) |
| Headquarters | Jacksonville, Florida |
| Number of locations | 14 |
| Key people | Robert M. Clements, CEO, W. Blake Wilson, Gary A. Meeks |
| Products | Banking |
| Website | www.everbank.com |
EverBank is an American diversified financial services company providing banking, mortgages, and investing services. It is based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. It operates through standard banking offices, and through its Direct Banking division. EverBank Direct operates by telephone, mail, and over the Internet. As of May 30, 2010, EverBank had approximately $11.5 billion in total assets.[1]
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While the roots of EverBank stretch back to 1961, the current incarnation was formed in 1994 when Chairman Robert Clements led an investor group in acquiring Jacksonville, Florida–based Alliance Mortgage Company. Under the leadership of Rob Clements and Gary Meeks, Alliance Mortgage Company became a significant mortgage originator and servicer. In 1998, Alliance Mortgage Company formed First Alliance Bank in Jacksonville, Florida, and shortly thereafter acquired Marine National Bank, also of Jacksonville, Florida.
In parallel, Frank Trotter, Rob Foregger, Vincent Amato, and David Galland led another investor group to found EverBank as a national direct-to-consumer bank. EverBank opened in January 2000 and quickly garnered recognition as an innovator in the direct-to-consumer marketplace.
The World Markets division of EverBank originated as a department of Mark Twain Bank, a small St. Louis, Missouri bank, that founded the WorldCurrency(sm) service in 1986. In April 1997 Mark Twain Bank was acquired by Mercantile Bank. EverBank acquired the world currency division from Mercantile Bank in April 1999. EverBank World Markets is still located in Brentwood, Missouri, a St. Louis suburb and provides certificate of deposit (CD) accounts in euros and other non–U.S. dollar currencies.
EverBank also has a brokerage affiliate called EverTrade Direct Brokerage, also located in Brentwood, that provides conventional stock, bond, and exchange-traded fund (ETF) broker services for buying and selling publicly traded securities.
On November 5, 2002, First Alliance Bank acquired EverBank and on February 2, 2004, the company took the name EverBank and EverHome for its consumer facing operations. Today, EverBank is the largest bank headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida and according to Florida Trend magazine, one of the nation’s largest online banks.[2]
On April 23, 2007, EverBank announced the appointment of David Conover, to the position of Senior Vice President and Head of the EverBank Advisor Services Group (ASG).
On May 21, 2007, EverBank announced that it had reached an agreement that would have increased its asset base to approximately $7 billion, its deposit base to approximately $6 billion, and its customer base to over 550,000 through the acquisition of NetBank's direct banking and small business financing divisions and mortgage servicing portfolio. On 17 September 2007, Everbank announced that it was terminating this agreement, as NetBank had been unable to comply with provisions regarding certain cash levels, which NetBank had been unable to reach because in the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis it had been unable to sell investments for the necessary cash.
EverBank offers products for a wide range of consumers. The product set includes high-interest checking, money market accounts and CDs in addition to a suite of FDIC-Insured deposits denominated in foreign currency. EverBank participates in the Certificate of Deposit Account Registry Service (CDARS).[3] The institution neither owns nor operates any ATMs, so they will refund ATM fees paid by checking account holders who send in the receipt, up to $6 per month.[4] Everbank will be the first non-military/non-community bank offering deposits by check scanning for consumers.[5]
On May 28, 2010, EverBank announced that it has acquired all the deposits, substantially all of the assets, and certain liabilities of the Bank of Florida - Southwest, Bank of Florida - Southeast, and Bank of Florida - Tampa Bay (collectively "Bank of Florida") from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the "FDIC"), bringing its total assets to approximately $11.5 billion.[6]
EverBank answers its phones with the tagline, "It's a great day at Everbank".
On April 24, 2009, a class action lawsuit was filed against EverBank in the Superior Court of California on behalf of purchasers of the bank's Icelandic Krona foreign currency denominated "CDs". The lawsuit alleges that EverBank, against the instructions of its customers, closed the "CDs" at a commercially unreasonable exchange rate far below those published by financial institutions and currency exchanges, resulting in a loss of much of the "CD" purchasers' principal.[7] On July 8, 2009, EverBank's Executive Vice President, Frank Trotter filed a declaration to the court in response to the lawsuit. In the declaration, Trotter admitted that a total of 225 investors lost $4,007,662.81 as a result of Everbank's forced closing of their Icelandic Krona denominated "CDs". That averages out to a loss of about $18,000 per account.[8] Trotter went on to disclose that when investments in all of EverBank's WorldCurrency CDs (including those denominated in foreign currencies other than the Icelandic Krona) are taken into account, investors suffered a net loss amounting to almost $50,000,000 over the past four years.[9]
EverBank/EverHome Mortgage has sponsored between 25[10] and 52[11] homes in the Jacksonville's Habitat for Humanity program (HabiJax), contributing between $1 million and $1.93 million, and 28,000 employee volunteer hours.
Daniel Memorial Inc. is Florida's oldest nonprofit child-service agency, helping thousands of at-risk youths annually. EverBank sponsors several events, including the yearly Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon and Annual Charity Golf Tournament. Daniel's School Supply Drive is held at EverBank locations throughout Jacksonville and EverBank employees and customers make generous contributions.
Everbank also supports several housing initiatives: Operation New Hope is committed to restoring Springfield, one of Jacksonville's most historic neighborhoods; the Housing Partnership of Northeast Florida assists hundreds of low and middle income families with home repair, homeownership education, credit counseling and refinancing mortgages for victims of predatory lending; by helping provide safe and affordable rental housing to people with disabilities, Grove House has successfully helped hundreds of well-deserving individuals and families.
EverBank also supports the following Organizations:[12]
On July 26, 2010, the Florida Times-Union reported that Everbank purchased the naming rights to the Jacksonville Jaguars stadium. The stadium, previously known as Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, had not had a sponsor since the end of the 2006 season when the prior contract with Alltel expired. The stadium will be known as EverBank Field starting with the 2010 NFL season.[13]
The exclusive five-year agreement includes EverBank's designation as the official bank of the Jaguars, promotions within Jaguars' game telecasts and a variety of other media rights to the Jaguars and EverBank Field marks, prominent signage in the stadium and elsewhere in Jacksonville, business presence at Jaguars' home games – including EverBank ATMs at the venue for use by fans – and various community outreach initiatives.
Located at One EverBank Field Drive on the shores of the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, EverBank Field is the 67,246-seat home stadium of the National Football League's Jacksonville Jaguars. In 2005, the stadium served as the host site of Super Bowl XXXIX. [14]
EverBank has a 4-star rating from BauerFinancial. Banks rated 4 stars or more are considered " safe, financially sound and operating well above their regulatory capital requirements.
Forbes and Online Banking Report's "Best of the Web"
Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine's "Best Checking Account"[15]