GreatAmerica Holdings Inc. announced Monday, June 15 it has completed its acquisition of Heritage Bank and converted it into GreatAmerica Bank National Association, capping a multi-year effort to secure a national bank charter.
Heritage Bank was an Iowa state-chartered bank based in Marion, with branches in Hiawatha and Delhi.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Heritage had $40.4 million in assets at the time the deal was announced.
The company’s path to a bank charter spanned more than five years. GreatAmerica originally submitted an industrial bank charter application in March 2020 with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Utah Department of Financial Institutions, but voluntarily withdrew that application in 2022. The company announced the Heritage Bank agreement and filed an application to establish a national bank in July 2025.
With the conversion now complete, GreatAmerica joins a small group of independent equipment finance companies operating under a national bank charter.
“We’re not becoming a bank to change who we are. We’re becoming a bank because we believe in where we’re going,” said Martin Golobic, chief executive officer of GreatAmerica. “For 34 years, we’ve built this company by taking care of customers, building strong relationships, and playing the long game. Becoming a bank makes us stronger and gives us greater flexibility to invest in our future. That translates into more opportunities for our customers, our employees, and the communities that have supported us along the way.”
John Turpen, president of GreatAmerica Bank, said the transaction sets a higher standard for the company’s next phase.
“This investment reflects what we can become and sets a higher standard for what comes next,” Mr. Turpen said. “We remain focused on delivering for our customers as we grow into this next chapter as a bank, with the same discipline, responsiveness, and partnership they expect from us.”
“We’ve built something special here, and this positions us to build something even better,” Mr. Golobic added. “Even after more than three decades in business, with this next chapter ahead, it feels like we’re just getting started.”
GreatAmerica Holdings is the parent company of GreatAmerica Financial Services Corporation.
GreatAmerica is a $3.5 billion company founded in Cedar Rapids in 1992, with more than 750 employees across offices in Iowa, Illinois, Georgia and Minnesota. The company began as a small-ticket leasing operation serving the office imaging industry and has since expanded into technology, healthcare, construction, franchise, additive manufacturing, specialty vehicles, automotive and other markets.
