- Key insight: Two Black-owned banks in the Carolinas have agreed to combine in a cash-and-stock deal worth more than $105 million.
- What's at stake: The merger between Optus Financial and M&F Bancorp will create a bank with larger scale at a time when many Black banks are confronting technology and other challenges.
- Forward look: The transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter of this year.
UPDATE: This article includes additional comments from James Sills III, president and CEO of M&F Bancorp.
Two minority depository banks in the Carolinas have agreed to merge in a deal that's set to create one of the largest Black banks in the United States, based on combined asset size.
Optus Financial in Columbia, South Carolina, plans to pay more than $105 million in cash and stock to buy M&F Bancorp in Durham, North Carolina, the companies announced Wednesday. M&F and its banking arm, M&F Bank, will merge into Optus and its banking arm, Optus Bank, resulting in an entity with $1.27 billion of assets. The merged company will operate under the Optus name.
In an email, M&F President and CEO James Sills III said the combined institution will become "the second-largest African American-owned financial institution in the United States" and the largest privately held one.
The deal brings together two of the oldest Black-owned banks in the U.S. It will also result in further consolidation in a segment of the U.S. banking sector that's already extremely slim. As of March 31, 2026, there were 17 Black-owned banks across the country, a number that has dwindled from 32 in 2006, according to data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
The combined organization will continue its legacy banks' status as a mission-driven bank and will maintain the designation as a community development financial institution, the banks said.
M&F's Sills, who is 68 years old, will become CEO of Optus Financial and Optus Bank. Paul Mitchell, chairman of Optus and Optus Bank, will continue in his current role.
"This partnership with M&F Bank represents a defining moment, not only for our organizations, but for mission-driven banking in America," Mitchell said Wednesday in a press release. "Together, we will create a stronger institution with greater scale, enhanced capabilities, and an expanded capacity to advance economic mobility throughout the Carolinas and beyond."
Post-acquisition, Optus will operate 10 branches, including eight in North Carolina that currently operate as M&F Bank branches. The deal is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2026, pending approval by regulators and M&F shareholders, according to the banks.
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As of March 31, Optus had about $785 million of assets, while M&F had about $518 million, according to the banks' most recent call reports.
Nicole Elam, president of the National Bankers Association, which represents minority depository banks across the country, expressed optimism about the pending combination.
"Both M&F and Optus have long histories of expanding access to capital and creating economic opportunity in underserved communities," Elam told American Banker in an email. "If completed, this partnership will demonstrate how mission-driven institutions can build to a greater scale while remaining focused on their core mission of serving their communities."
Minority banks continue to face pressure in the form of rising technology costs,
"Our focus is ensuring mission-driven banks remain strong, competitive, and able to serve their communities for generations to come," Elam added.
The two merging banks did not say if Benita Lefft, president of Optus Bank, will have a role with the combined company post-acquisition. Two years ago, Lefft succeeded Dominik Mjartan, who had been president and CEO since 2017 and
Three directors from M&F's existing board will join the six-person board that oversees Optus Financial, Sills told American Banker. Those same directors will also join Optus Bank's board.
The remaining M&F directors will sit on a strategic advisory council for two years "to make sure this transition happens smoothly," Sills said in the interview.
The transaction has already been approved by the boards of both companies, the banks' release said. The headquarters of the combined bank will be in Columbia, South Carolina, Sills told American Banker.
Bringing Optus and M&F together is a way to build scale, especially in the highly competitive North Carolina market, Sills said in the interview. The state is home to banking giants such as Bank of America, Truist Financial and First Citizens Bancshares, and it's a major hub for other banks such as Wells Fargo and Ally Financial.
The fact that the deal will result in one less Black bank doing business in the U.S. is not necessarily negative, Sills said.
"We're taking two institutions that are aligned … with similar business models and it is so competitive that to achieve growth you have to have scale," Sills said. "We'll be able to do more as a larger institution versus two smaller institutions. We'll be able to do larger loans. We'll be able to accept larger deposits. We'll be able to invest more in the communities we serve."
The number of Black-owned banks has been dwindling for years, due to a mix of industry consolidation and financial hardships. Black banks have historically struggled to obtain enough capital to fund loans. But after civil unrest that rolled across the country in 2020 after George Floyd's murder, some Black banks, including both Optus and M&F, received
Two of the most recent M&A deals between Black-owned or -operated banks took place in 2021 and 2022. In 2021,
A year later, Carver Financial in Georgia
