These six banks make most of bricks-and-mortar by serving distinct virtual niches

What to do if you are a bank CEO who wants to grow revenue and are considering a completely different, fully digital-based brand to get there?.You see competitors who seemingly cracked the code with alternate brands that sometimes closely resemble a more traditional bank website, such as Live Oak Bank, Bankers Lender or Go Bank. But you also eye the outliers who are disrupting the status quo with a brand that is distinctly untraditional and aimed at specific audiences. They include Redneck Bank, Old Glory Bank and BADASS Bank.In some ways, it’s easier to promote your brand on a website than it is in a branch. What would a Redneck Bank branch even look like? And you are certainly casting a much wider net with a digital bank than you can with a bricks-and-mortar-only operation.Digital banks aren’t new, but in the age of continually compressed margins and other headwinds, the virtual branch is giving banks an increasingly acceptable way to grow their franchise, even if they bifurcate their brand to do it.“The generational banks that are three, four, five generations deep that have done it the same way year in, year out, and they have success doing that, I don’t see this being for them,” said Cuy Mauck, CEO of BADASS Bank, an obviously edgy digital-only bank that emerged from a bricks-and-mortar institution. “For somebody to really come out with a BADASS Bank or a Redneck Bank, you’ve got to have that true entrepreneurial spirit, and you’ve got to be willing to take on the critics, and I have had mine.”Instead of potential customers going to a local bank or branch by default, digital banks are appealing to target audiences by differentiating themselves by careers, interests and lifestyle groups. (See: BADASS Bank, Redneck Bank, Old Glory and Bankers Lender.) These audience-specific banks clearly need a wide reach, as in nationwide, to truly succeed.BADASS is a division of Kansas-based Stryv Bank, which operates two branches. Still, that hasn’t stopped people from asking Mauck why Stryv would offer a bank like BADASS.“I’ve had people walk in this bank and want to know why we would do such a thing,” Mauck said. “Well, we’re not doing it. You can’t come into Stryv Bank and open (a BADASS Bank) account. It only exists online.”Identity-based digital banks reflect a larger societal trend, and like with every business decision, present a risk-reward choice for bankers looking to capitalize on the development and maybe offer an alter ego to their bricks-and-mortar institution.But when should a community bank consider launching a differently branded digital bank? And should it at all? Will it complement or cannibalize your existing bank?“I think it’s going to be pretty unique based on the institution,” said Kyle Hershberger, CEO of Lincoln, Neb.-based Cross Financial. “When they’re so large that they have a capital budget that they can throw money at an alter ego, and if it fails, they’re fine? Yes, they can do that. But if you look at a $150 million to $2 billion community bank, they have such a limited budget that they’re already having trouble keeping their own stuff up to date, let alone an alter ego that may or may not work … I think for a lot of them, they go through their own thought process on, well, this probably doesn’t make sense for us.”For some of the banks Cross has worked with, Hershberger said they’re more comfortable with staying in their own geographical footprint and sticking with what they know.“In some cases, it’s because they don’t want that kind of volume,” Hershberger said. “In other cases, it makes them uncomfortable from a compliance, regulatory, fraud perspective..“So, a traditional ownership group, family-owned, closely held, they just don’t like to dabble in it,” Hershberger added. “The credit union side, or even publicly traded companies or widely held company banks, are more open to it because the decision-makers are further away from the purse strings, so they’re making a business decision based on a budget, not a risk-based ‘if we lose this money ….”“For a stereotypical community banker in America in 2025, how many of them really would step out on the ledge?” Hershberger asked.Chris Miller, a senior director at Cornerstone Advisors, a banking consulting firm with offices in Arizona, Florida and North Carolina, said launching a separate digital banking division can be a compelling strategy for traditional banks, especially in response to the rapid digitalization of financial services and rising competition from fintechs..It may attract new, often younger, customer segments who prefer digital-first experiences. It might also leverage the parent bank’s existing talent, technology, and brand trust while operating with lower overhead and greater agility, as well as improve customer experience by offering faster, more intuitive digital services and diversify revenue streams and experiment with new digital products without disrupting core legacy operations.“However, this approach is not without challenges,” Miller said. “Banks must address cultural alignment, invest in modern technology, attract digital talent, and ensure seamless integration between digital and traditional operations.Bankers considering whether to launch a separate digital banking unit should weigh several strategic factors:Is there a significant opportunity to capture new segments, or is there a threat from fintech competitors that could disrupt the core business?Is there buy-in from executive management and the capital to invest in building and sustaining a digital bank?Can the organization foster a challenger mindset, embrace agility, and drive collaboration between legacy and digital teams?Does the bank have, or can it acquire, the technology infrastructure and digital talent needed for success?Is the digital strategy designed around evolving customer needs, with a focus on seamless, personalized, and secure experiences?Is the digital bank seen as a way to future-proof the organization and diversify its portfolio, or as a short-term experiment?.“Ultimately, the decision should be driven by a clear understanding of customer needs, competitive dynamics, and the bank’s ability to execute a digital strategy that complements its core strengths,” Miller said.BADASS BankBADASS Bank’s name pretty much tells you all you need to know about its brand, which is unapologetically about being oneself, whether it’s suffering through the mundane of everyday life, electing to have your child undergo lifesaving open-heart surgery or even adopting the dog that has been at the shelter the longest. It celebrates the hard charger in all of us..“The badass isn’t the guy riding the 20-year-old Harley, but it could be,” said Cuy Mauck, CEO. “The badass is somebody who gets up and does it every day, who works two jobs to support their family or does what’s not fun.”It’s a result of a bold bet by Mauck and a lean but high-achieving team.It’s a division of Kansas-based Stryv Bank, in business since 1975. BADASS emerged when Stryv was looking to grow core deposits. The two banks’ sites could not be any more different. You will not click on stryvbank.com/ and wonder if you accidentally ended up at BADASS.bank and vice versa.Mauck met with one of Redneck Bank’s owners, which got the process underway.Mauck said the name was originally jokingly suggested by a marketing team they were working with. Mauck, who describes himself as a traditional banker who wears a suit, white shirt and tie to work, at one point in the process said he’d never go with the name.“And I kept coming back thinking, what if,” Mauck said. “And one day I’m looking at the name and it’s like, you know what? That is the one name that creates an emotional response I think we need to have in order to get people to log on, check out the website, then say, Hey, I want that card.”An animated image of its card features prominently on the site featuring a gold-colored skull wearing a Spartan-like helmet set against a striking black background. (A pink version is in the works.)“The local designer was a big skull-and-skeleton guy, and I am not a skull-and-skeleton guy, but it does get your attention,” Mauck said. “And sometimes, if we’re comfortable, we’re not moving ahead. The main thing is to make ourselves a little uncomfortable, and let’s see where we can push the boundaries.”Now, BADASS Bank is an Inc. 5000 company and it hammers home its brand throughout its website: badass checking, badass money market, badass benefits … well, you get the idea.He said not everyone could do what BADASS is doing: “A publicly traded bank, a big bank, cannot come out with a BADASS Bank.”“You know you’re on the right track when you’re driving home at night saying, I will never do it, I will not do it, I’m not going to do it, and I can’t do it,” Mauck said. “And then the next morning you’re driving in saying, not only are we going to do it, we’re going to do it well. I had those talks with myself, I bet, for three or four months in a row.” Redneck BankRedneck Bank’s site certainly has its own vibe: A horse grins its toothy smile at you and randomly neighs. Meanwhile, a whole bunch of other critters pop in and out of the screen..Then there is the fly that looks so disturbingly real that you keep swatting at your computer screen.And the name … the name also doesn’t instill confidence that this is a real bank. But then you see the money market interest rate and the “Redneck Rewards Checkin’ Account” rate, along with other clearly bank-related information and you realize this bank is legit.Redneck Bank is the offbeat division of Oklahoma-based All America Bank, which dates back to 1969 and is much more in line with what one would expect when it comes to banks. You would be hard-pressed to believe the two are linked with how different their websites are, which is probably at the core of Redneck’s success. All America’s online presence is your standard-issue bank website. Redneck Bank? Not so much.But Redneck is one of the standard bearers when it comes to digital banks, and it’s clear All America struck gold when it launched Redneck.Redneck wants to appeal to self-described rednecks. Consider it mission accomplished. It launched in 2008, and is often mentioned as a model for banks to follow who want to successfully diversify their brand. They are a bank that cracked the code.It’s whimsical, that is for sure, liberally peppering in words such as “bankin’,” “yerself” and “redneckery.” But the tone markedly changes when it comes to the FAQs about opening an account, mobile deposits, how to reach customer service and all the other information you would want to find at a place that will be holding your money. Here, the tone is serious and straightforward, and the information relatively easy to find. And the fly is nowhere to be seen.Spend some time at Redneck and it’s easy to see it is trying to lower any barriers to making banking less intimidating and maybe even a little bit fun. Old Glory BankOld Glory Bank is clearly differentiating itself from its competition in a distinct fashion, staking out its turf in the patriotic corner of the market. Co-founded by several high-profile personalities in the conservative world, its brand is staunchly red, white and blue. According to some reports, it has been very well received by the market, and is mentioned up there with Redneck Bank as a bank that knows what it is and has successfully marketed that brand..Old Glory identifies itself as the “pro-America bank” for “freedom-loving Americans” “dedicated to protecting your Privacy, Security, and Liberty.”It declares its promise as “Privacy. Above all else.” Adding: “After all, Old Glory Bank’s mission statement is the United States Constitution.”It offers benefits for first responders, military and border patrol.Originating as First State Bank of Elmore City in 1903, Old Glory Holding Company acquired First State and launched Old Glory Bank in 2022. Old Glory still maintains a branch in Elmore City, its only bricks-and-mortar facility.It’s easy to find the members of Old Glory’s leadership and management teams, including short biographies of everyone. It highlights them more than most digital bank websites.Old Glory’s home page touts it is owned by Main Street, not Wall Street, and also offers the opportunity to become an owner of the bank via a mini-IPO. The minimum investment is $63, inspired by a biblical passage. It also links to a store where you can buy bank-branded merch — an innovative tactic you don’t see very often. Old Glory might not be the bank for everyone, but it has clearly struck a chord. And any bank looking to add a digital counterpart to a one-branch operation could borrow a few lessons from Old Glory on setting itself apart from its competitors and maintaining brand consistency. Live Oak BankLive Oak Bank’s website is both no-nonsense, inviting and straight forward, suggesting that it means business, which dovetails perfectly with its focus on banking small businesses; but it also does so with some levity, featuring a man holding up a boom box, a la John Cusack’s character in “Say Anything,” asking you if you are begging for your bank’s attention..Live Oak is a fully digital, standalone bank aimed,and self-described as “America’s small business bank.”It doesn’t have any branches, but it does have an impressive campus in Wilmington, N.C., that you get glimpses of when you watch the video sharing the bank’s backstory.Live Oak Bank launched in 2008 and is a subsidiary of Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. Its mission was and is to serve small businesses. As one of the top SBA lenders nationally by dollar amount, it obviously has had success in that measure.Live Oak emphasizes its focus on technology to get the job done right and efficiently: touting itself as being “high tech and high touch.”If a bank were thinking about building out an alternate brand, it would probably need to do more than Live Oak’s online presence to meaningfully set the two apart.Liveoak.bank’s site is very much in line with what one would expect to see at a community bank. It is also ultra-safe and risk averse. It is on the opposite end of the spectrum of some of the other banks featured here, and its directors can probably sleep soundly knowing its online presence and business model is as buttoned-down as a bank could really be. Go BankGo Bank is the consumer-facing digital brand of Green Dot Bank, a sizable financial conglomerate that provides banking services to Apple, Walmart and others..But Go Bank doesn’t do itself any favors on its home page when it asks visitors that if they liked GoBank.com, they will really like go2bank. It isn’t immediately clear how the offerings differ, other than that the connection to Green Dot is more obvious at go2bank.com than at gobank.com. (Go2bank’s site is more informative and engaging than Go Bank’s, and is loaded with features that help give a more well-rounded user experience.)Go Bank came onto the scene in 2013, in the wake of the Great Recession when trust in the industry was at an ebb. It touted itself as being consumer friendly and seamless when it came to customers’ ability to access and manage their accounts. Go Bank was the first bank account designed from scratch to be opened and used on a mobile device, according to a Green Dot press release.A bank considering launching a complementary brand could probably learn a lesson from Go Bank and Go2Bank about better ways to differentiate brands or pivoting to offer a variation of their existing brand, especially if they don’t have the resources offered by being part of a sizable financial conglomerate.That said, Go Bank IS indeed part of a sizable financial conglomerate and it offers a massive, free ATM network, the ability to quickly transfer money to friends and deposit money into your account at more than 100,000 retailers nationwide.Still, a community banker might not see Go Bank as a top threat or any more of a threat than any of its traditional competitors. And it can’t compete with some of Go Bank’s offerings. But community banks do have strengths that banks such as Go Bank couldn’t match. Bankers LenderBankers Lender is trying to connect with bankers — it describes itself as the bankers’ bank. It also claims it is the first direct digital bank offered exclusively to professionals employed in the banking industry..Bankers Lender is powered by Texas National Bank, based in Sweetwater, Texas. Texas National has 10 branches, a mortgage office and a headquarters, and its website and approach is very much in line with a traditional community bank. Bankers Lender is the consumer/business-to-business face of Texas National.Bankers Lender takes a different approach to its home page, that is for sure. It emphasizes two points. The first is its target audience is bankers. The second is Bankers Lender makes it clear it wants you to download its app. You cannot miss the links to do so.The rest of the home page is quite scant, but there is something to be said for such brevity. It’s not flashy by any means, but that’s probably OK when you are trying to build a connection with generally risk-averse bankers.Bankers Lender clearly knows its audience and its needs, and caters to it quite effectively in its minimalist fashion.Much of the site is text-based and sparse, but you also don’t have to wade your way through irrelevant information.Other areas of the site are well-suited for bankers, with links to banking-related podcasts and publications that most senior bankers might be familiar with, but junior staff members could benefit from, and other resources to help connect bankers with other bankers.