Today In Digital-First Banking: Nicolet Bankshares Plans To Buy County Bancorp; Online Mortgage Exchange MAXEX Secures JPMorgan Investment

In today’s top news in digital-first banking, Nicolet Bankshares plans to buy County Bancorp, while MAXEX has secured an investment from J.P. Morgan. Plus, New Jersey-based CRB Group has bought data and risk analytics company PeerIQ.

Nicolet Bankshares Acquires County Bancorp In $219M Deal

Nicolet Bankshares plans to purchase County Bancorp and its banking subsidiary, Investors Community Bank, in an arrangement valued at approximately $219 million. “One of the goals of every acquisition is to find better ways to serve communities. This partnership is an intentional, strategic move to become the premier agriculture lender throughout Wisconsin,” Mike Daniels, president and CEO of Nicolet, said in an announcement.

Digital Mortgage Exchange MAXEX Lands Investment From JPMorgan

Online mortgage exchange MAXEX has secured an investment from J.P. Morgan. The investment will be harnessed to “accelerate broad market adoption of the MAXEX exchange platform for buying and selling loans in the U.S. non-agency mortgage market,” according to an announcement. MAXEX says it’s the first online mortgage exchange to enable the trading of residential loans by the way of a sole clearinghouse.

CRB Group Picks Up Analytics Company PeerIQ

CRB Group has purchased data and risk analytics firm PeerIQ. Fort Lee, New Jersey-based CRB is Cross River Bank’s parent company. “With this acquisition, Cross River’s clients, partners and the industry will be able to access PeerIQ’s industry-leading analytics,” PeerIQ Founder Ram Ahluwalia said, as previously reported. PeerIQ was established to “bridge the gap between originators, lenders and the capital markets,” according to an announcement.

Non-Bank Lenders Leading The Mortgage Race

2020 was a banner year for U.S. consumers taking out mortgages. Non-bank lenders provided most of those mortgages, according to a published report. These lenders issued nearly 70 percent of all mortgages in the United States last year, marking a rise from just under 60 percent in 2019.