Acquisition provides mortgage lender entree into digital banking

Gateway Mortgage Group, which says it has serviced more than $16 billion in loans, is diversifying into online banking.

Gateway, of Tulsa, Okla., recently bought Farmers Exchange Bank in Cherokee, Okla., and plans to rebrand it Gateway First Bank. The$314 million-asset bank will be the backbone for a digital-only bank that Gateway is scheduled to open this summer.

Gateway Mortgage operates in 40 states and the District of Columbia. It said in a press release Thursday that it will use the digital bank to “grow" Gateway First's accounts and deposits "nationwide.”

FIS will provide the modern core banking platform for the new digital bank, Gateway said.

“As we planned for the launch of Gateway First Bank, we selected a partner with deep experience and scale in digital banking,” Gateway CEO Stephen Curry said in the release. “I have worked with FIS in the past, and their platform will give us the modern functionality and digital services we need to attract and serve customers around the country.”

Gateway will rely on FIS for account origination to enable consumers to open and manage their accounts via mobile and laptop devices.

Gateway is the latest lending firm to announce plans for a consumer-facing, digital-only bank.

American Banker reported last week that Toyota Financial Services will move beyond auto financing and leasing to offer consumers a digital-only bank.

Vipin Gupta, chief information officer at Toyota Financial Services, said his company is developing the spinoff institution but doesn’t have a timetable for its launch.