Look at Forbes’ list of America’s Best Banks for 2025, and you’ll see a name that has become familiar throughout the Evansville region.
German American Bancorp is No. 2 on the list of 100 institutions ranked, trailing only Southern BancShares of Mount Olive, North Carolina.
“We’re really honored,” says Neil Dauby, chairman and CEO of Jasper, Indiana-based German American. “Our being recognized as a top performer across the nation is nothing new to us. But rising to the level of No. 2 is special. We could tell our team members they are doing a great job and give them internal recognition and acknowledgment, but when an independent and prestigious company like Forbes gives you that validation, it takes on a whole different meaning for our team.”
Now 115 years old, German American has about $8.3 billion in assets and $3.7 billion in wealth management assets under management. Its presence is in western, central, and northern Kentucky and central and southwest Ohio, as well as central and southern Indiana.
German American has conducted business at its Downtown Evansville location, at Southeast Third and Locust streets, since 2017.
John Lamb, chief commercial banking officer and senior president of German American’s Southwest Region, says the nod from Forbes “is very meaningful to our employees in our regions and our markets. They all have played a long-term part in making our performance possible.”
In addition to the diligence of those team members, Lamb says German American’s success is keyed by local governing within its six regions, all of which have distinct demographics and lending needs.
Each area where German American operates has “local people making local decisions,” Lamb says.
In its list of America’s Best Banks for 2025, Forbes notes that smaller often is better when it comes to financial institutions.
No banks in the top 10 have more than $25 billion in assets, and JPMorgan Chase is the only trillion-dollar institution on the entire list.
German American officials say they have been able to retain the smaller, community bank-style model even as the company has expanded to 46 locations in Indiana and 28 in Kentucky.
“We’ll out-local our competition with a relationship-based, community bank model,” Dauby says. “Corporately we want to provide the necessary resources to our local leadership teams and empower them with local decision-making and autonomy. We want them to be nimble and responsive to our customers and community’s needs.”
In rating institutions for 2025, Forbes looks at 11 metrics measuring growth, credit quality, and profitability for the 12 months ending Sept. 30, 2024, as well as stock performance in the year through Jan. 10, 2025.
The 200 largest publicly traded banks and thrifts by assets were eligible for the list. Forbes ranked the top 100 of that group.
In recent years, German American has grown its presence in Bloomington and Columbus, Indiana, as well as Louisville, Kentucky, and the 2024 acquisition of Heartland Bancorp will cast its net into Ohio.
Dauby says German American will remain involved with all types of organizations within its footprint.
The No. 2 national recognition from Forbes “should instill confidence in those who bank and invest with German American because it demonstrates our financial focus, strength, and stability,” Dauby says. “It also brings trust in the advice and counsel of our local team of banking and wealth management professionals. I believe our customers and communities will be prideful of our national ranking as well. It validates the strength of German American Bank and the communities we serve.”
