EverBank

History

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. 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.

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 stock 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.

On May 21, 2007, EverBank agreed to acquire 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, claiming that NetBank had been unable to comply with provisions regarding certain cash levels due to the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis.

In 2008, Florida Trend magazine described EverBank as being one of the nation's largest online banks.

EverBank's products include 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). 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. Everbank may have been the first non-military, non-community bank offering deposits by check scanning for consumers.

On May 28, 2010, EverBank announced that it had 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.

Lawsuit

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" as a result of that country's financial collapse of 2008. 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. 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.

" U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg in San Jose granted EverBank summary judgment on all of Vathana's claims, finding, among other things, that EverBank had the discretion to close the CDs because it would have been on the hook for some $12 million in losses had the currency not recovered."

Trotter went on to disclose, based on currency variation, 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 million over the past four years.

Community involvement

EverBank/EverHome Mortgage has sponsored between 25 and 52 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:

Jacksonville Jaguars

On July 26, 2010, the Florida Times-Union reported that EverBank purchased the naming rights to Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. The stadium had not had a sponsor since the end of the 2006 NFL season when the prior contract with Alltel expired. The stadium has been known as EverBank Field since the 2010 season.

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.

On July 25, 2014, EverBank extended the naming rights of the stadium until 2024.

Awards