SSSBSouthState Bank Corporation

SouthState is a south-eastern bank grown by buying up neighbouring banks in growing states.

The model is ordinary: deposits fund loans to businesses, commercial real estate and mortgages, and the rate spread supplies most of the result. Geography works for the bank — the South is gaining population and businesses, increasing both deposits and loan demand without the cost of entering a new region.

Growth came through mergers with banks of comparable size, and each such combination is a multi-year project: migrating accounts, merging systems, retaining the acquired bank's customers. Risks are the sector's standard ones: commercial real estate, deposit costs, book quality in a downturn and integration expense. A dividend is paid and raised.