$3.6 billion bank leverages CSI's Hawthorn River loan origination system to achieve lending excellence at scale while integrating dozens of fintechs

CSI, a leading provider of end-to-end financial software and technology, congratulates its customer Encore Bank on being named “Bank Lender of the Year” by Tearsheet's 2025 Lending Awards. The award recognizes Encore Bank's exceptional achievement in redefining modern community bank lending operations through precision, integration and innovation.

Encore Bank, with an asset size of $3.6 billion, uses CSI's Hawthorn River LOS to connect more than 20 financial technology solutions into a unified ecosystem, eliminating manual inefficiencies while maintaining relationship-focused service. The bank's technology-driven approach delivers the agility of a fintech with the stability of a traditional community financial institution, resulting in faster decision making, enhanced compliance tracking and improved borrower experiences.

"Hawthorn River transformed our lending operations by creating a single platform that handles our entire loan origination life cycle—from application and pipeline management to underwriting, documentation, e-signature, booking, document and exception tracking, and more—with connectivity to our pricing and profitability solution. It is also used for underwriting of treasury management products and tracking of escrow documents and disbursements," said Erin Simpson, EVP and COO at Encore Bank. "The system's integration capabilities help us further connect our entire technology stack, which is connected from middleware to online banking to title company software, creating operational efficiencies that directly benefit our employees and clients. We are proud of the hard work our team has done to make this achievement possible."

With its strong core lending operations and robust technology infrastructure, Encore is poised for long-term growth and is setting a new standard for innovation in the financial industry.

"Encore Bank’s success exemplifies how banks can leverage advanced technology to compete effectively while maintaining the local relationships and service that define them," said Nancy Langer, CEO of CSI. “It's proof that the right infrastructure enables innovation without sacrificing what makes community banking valuable. Congratulations to the entire Encore Bank team."

Encore Bank operates 18 full-service branches across seven states, serving communities in Arkansas, Texas, Florida, Colorado, North Carolina, South Carolina and Missouri.

For more information about CSI, visit csiweb.com. For more information about Encore Bank, visit bankencore.com.

About CSI

As a forward-thinking software provider, CSI helps community and regional banks, as well as organizations worldwide, solve their customers' needs through open and agile technologies. In addition to its 60-year reputation for personalized service, CSI is shaping the future of banking by swiftly deploying advanced solutions that help its customers rival their competition.

About Encore Bank

Encore Bank is a private, boutique bank with a commercial focus that couples highly experienced and talented bankers with innovative technology to offer unprecedented levels of personal service and experiences to its clients through a hospitality-inspired concierge approach. Encore provides a full suite of financial products and services to businesses, business owners, professionals, their families and contacts with purpose, passion and precision. For more information, visit bankencore.com.

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The bank's technology-driven approach delivers the agility of a fintech with the stability of a traditional community financial institution, resulting in faster decision making, enhanced compliance tracking and improved borrower experiences.