The story
Founding
Pathward was founded as Storm Lake Savings and Loan Association in 1954 by Stanley H. Haahr, who remained on the Board of Directors until 1990 and served as board chairman from 1981 to 1990. The bank purchased the Bradford Hotel property in Storm Lake at Fifth and Erie in 1970, and construction was completed on the bank's new headquarters in 1972. By 1993, the bank changed its name from First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Storm Lake to First Federal Savings Bank of the Midwest, a subsidiary of First Midwest Financial, Inc. On September 20, 1993, 1.9 million shares of stock in First Midwest Financial, Inc., were issued at $10 per share and began trading on the NASDAQ stock market under the symbol “CASH.”
Acquisitions
In 1994, Brookings Federal Bank, a federal savings bank in Brookings, South Dakota, was acquired and operated as the Brookings Federal Bank Division of First Federal Savings Bank of the Midwest. In 1996, Iowa Savings Bank in Des Moines was purchased and operated as the Iowa Savings Bank Division of First Federal Savings Bank of the Midwest.
In January 2018, Pathward acquired Crestmark Bank.
In March 2020, Pathward announced the sale of its community bank division to Central Bank, a state-chartered bank headquartered in Storm Lake, Iowa.
Expansion
First Federal opened the doors to its first Sioux Falls office – a temporary facility – on September 6, 2000. In 2004, the Meta Payment Systems (MPS) division was established in Sioux Falls. The next year, in 2005, all bank divisions under First Federal changed their names to MetaBank, inhabiting four market areas: Central Iowa; Northwest Iowa; Brookings; and Sioux Falls.
In 2009, MetaBank introduced a new retail product line and the MPS division became a leading issuer of rebate and gift cards in the United States and worldwide and one of the top issuers of Visa, MasterCard and Discover prepaid cards.
In 2014, MetaBank announced the acquisition of AFS/IBEX Financial Services Inc., an insurance premium financing company based in Dallas, Texas.
MetaBank announced the acquisition of Refund Advantage, a tax refund-transfer software company based in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2015.
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In 2016, MetaBank announced two acquisitions: EPS Financial in November and Specialty Consumer Services (SCS) in December. EPS provides tax-related financial transaction solutions. They are headquartered in Easton, Pennsylvania SCS provides consumer tax advance services through its underwriting and loan management system. SCS is based in Hurst, Texas.
Pathward issued debit cards of up to $600 sent to millions of Americans as part of the second round of COVID-19 Economic Impact Payments in January 2021. MetaBank acted as the U.S. Treasury's "financial agent" for this purpose.
Illegal Activities and Fines
In 2024, Pathward Bank has agreed to pay about $700,000 in refunds and penalties stemming from an investigation conducted by the New York Attorney General's Office that revealed the bank unlawfully froze customer accounts and illegally transferred money to debt collectors.
In 2025, a victim of the TreasuryDirect fake website scam reportedly had their funds laundered through Pathward Bank.
Corporate leadership
James S. Haahr became President and Chief Executive Officer of Meta Financial Group, Inc., in 1993. J. Tyler Haahr took over the position of President and CEO in 2005. In 2011, James Haahr resigned as chairman, and J. Tyler Haahr became chairman and CEO. James and Tyler Haahr are the son and grandson of founder Stanley Haahr.
Brad Hanson served as President of the Meta Payment Systems division beginning with its inception in 2004. He was appointed President of Meta Financial Group and MetaBank in 2013.
In 2021, Hanson announced his plans to retire, and Brett Pharr was named the new CEO and Anthony Sharett was named the new President of Meta Financial and MetaBank.
Glen Herrick joined MetaBank in 2013 and served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Meta Financial Group and MetaBank. In 2023, Herrick retired from Pathward and was succeeded by Greg Sigrist.
Nadia Dombrowski joined MetaBank in 2022 as Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and later her title changed to Executive Vice President, Chief Legal and Administrative Officer as her role expanded.
Charles Ingram joined MetaBank in 2020 as Executive Vice President, Chief Information Officer and in 2021 his title changed to Executive Vice President and Chief Technology and Product Officer as his role expanded.
Sale of trademark and rebranding
In December 2021, Meta Financial Group sold its "Meta" trademark to Facebook's parent company (now called Meta Platforms) for $60 million. The agreement required Meta Financial Group to phase out the trademark within one year. In March 2022, the financial services company announced it would change its brand to Pathward.
From Wikipedia’s article on Pathward, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.7