Affinity Bancshares, Inc. (AFBI): Business Model Canvas [Dec-2025 Updated]

You're trying to figure out if Affinity Bancshares, Inc. (AFBI) is a solid community bank play or just another regional lender. Honestly, their model is simple: they're a relationship-driven Georgia bank with a massive focus on commercial real estate, which is defintely paying off. For the first nine months of 2025, they pulled in $6.2 million in net income, backed by a strong $925.2 million in total assets and a loan portfolio of $729.5 million. Plus, they use their niche digital bank, FitnessBank, to pull in deposits cheaply. That's the core engine-a traditional lending model with a clever digital twist-and it's why you need to look closer at their full Business Model Canvas below.

Affinity Bancshares, Inc. (AFBI) - Canvas Business Model: Key Partnerships

You need to understand the external relationships that keep Affinity Bancshares, Inc. running, because they are crucial for liquidity, compliance, and market access. These are not just vendors; they are mission-critical partners that allow the bank to manage risk and scale operations.

Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) for Funding Advances

The Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) system is a foundational liquidity partner for Affinity Bank, the operating subsidiary. This relationship provides a stable, on-demand source of wholesale funding (advances) to manage balance sheet fluctuations and support lending growth without relying solely on deposit inflows.

As of September 30, 2025, the bank's total borrowings, primarily FHLB advances, stood at $54.0 million. This represents a decrease of $4.8 million from the $58.8 million reported at December 31, 2024, partly due to the full repayment of an advance from the Bank Term Funding Program in the first quarter of 2025. This is a defintely a key risk-mitigation tool for a regional bank.

The reliance on FHLB advances is a common practice in community banking, but it's important to track the total borrowings relative to the total assets, which were $925.2 million at the end of the third quarter of 2025.

Independent Auditor Wipfli for Regulatory Compliance and Financial Oversight

Wipfli serves as the independent registered public accounting firm for Affinity Bancshares, Inc. This is a non-negotiable partnership that ensures the integrity of the consolidated financial statements and compliance with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations.

Their role extends beyond simple auditing; they provide the necessary external validation for stakeholders, including the Federal Reserve Board and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which regulate the bank holding company and the national bank subsidiary, respectively.

Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company as the Stock Transfer Agent

For a publicly traded company like Affinity Bancshares, Inc. (AFBI), the stock transfer agent manages the administrative work related to its common stock. Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company handles the official record-keeping of shareholders, manages the issuance and cancellation of stock certificates, and facilitates dividend payments.

This partnership is critical for maintaining an orderly market and ensuring accurate shareholder communication, especially considering the 6.17 million shares outstanding as of November 14, 2025, and the bank's history of special cash dividends, such as the $1.50 per share dividend declared and paid in the first quarter of 2025.

Technology Vendors for Digital Banking and Core Processing Systems

Affinity Bank relies on key technology vendors for its core banking infrastructure and customer-facing digital platforms. These partnerships enable the bank's entire operational backbone, from transaction processing to customer experience.

The bank must maintain seamless integration across its various channels, including its traditional branch network, its digital and mobile banking platforms, and its virtual bank, FitnessBank, which is designed to gather deposits nationwide.

The core processor, while unnamed in public summaries, is responsible for the centralized online real-time exchange (CORE) that manages deposits, loans, and all customer data. Any disruption to this partnership would be a major risk, so the bank must have a defintely robust vendor management framework in place.

Affinity Bancshares, Inc. (AFBI) - Canvas Business Model: Key Activities

For a community bank like Affinity Bancshares, Inc. (AFBI), the Key Activities are straightforward: sourcing capital, lending it out profitably, and managing the risk between the two. You can't make money without doing these three things well, plus having a niche strategy to defintely stand out in a crowded market.

Originate commercial real estate (CRE) and commercial and industrial (C&I) loans

The core activity is generating high-quality loans, which drives the majority of the company's net interest income. As of September 30, 2025, Affinity Bancshares had total gross loans of $729.5 million, a solid increase from the start of the year. This growth came from steady demand across key segments.

The lending strategy is heavily focused on commercial clients, with a significant portion of the loan portfolio dedicated to real estate. Here's the quick math on their exposure, which shows a deliberate focus on lower-risk, owner-occupied properties:

• Commercial Real Estate (CRE) is nearly half the loan book.
• Loan growth in Q3 2025 was driven by construction, consumer, and commercial loans secured by real estate-specifically owner-occupied properties.
• Non-owner occupied office loans, a segment the market watches closely for risk, totaled $41.1 million as of September 30, 2025.

To be fair, this CRE exposure is managed with a relatively low average loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 45.5% on their non-owner occupied office loans, which includes $15.6 million in medical/dental tenants. That's a strong cushion against market dips.

Manage a deposit base that reached $739.4 million as of September 30, 2025

Your bank is only as strong as its funding base, and for Affinity Bancshares, deposit management is a critical activity. Total deposits grew by $65.9 million since December 31, 2024, reaching $739.4 million by the end of Q3 2025. This growth is crucial because deposits are typically a cheaper, more stable source of funding than wholesale borrowing.

The composition of this growth is telling:

The significant increase in demand deposits-money customers can pull out easily, but which costs the bank less in interest-shows effective client relationship management. Still, managing deposit costs remains a challenge in the current rate environment, which impacts the net interest margin.

Conduct asset/liability management to maintain a net interest margin of 3.49% (Q3 2025)

This is the technical work that makes the whole machine run: matching the interest rates and maturities of the loans (assets) with the deposits and borrowings (liabilities). The goal is to maximize the net interest margin (NIM), which is the difference between interest earned and interest paid. For Q3 2025, Affinity Bancshares' NIM was 3.49%.

Here's what that means in practice:

• Interest Income: Increased due to higher interest rates on the growing loan portfolio.
• Interest Expense: Also increased due to higher deposit costs, which is a common headwind in 2025.
• The Result: The NIM decreased slightly to 3.49% from 3.52% a year prior, but it remains a robust margin, indicating effective rate management in a tough environment.

A 3.49% NIM is a solid number, but every basis point of cost creep requires a dollar-for-dollar increase in lending revenue to offset it.

Operate the niche digital bank, FitnessBank, for deposit growth

To supplement traditional branch banking, Affinity Bancshares runs FitnessBank, a digital bank that is a critical, modern activity for deposit acquisition. This is a smart way to diversify their funding sources beyond their local Georgia footprint.

FitnessBank's value proposition is unique: it offers higher interest rates on deposits based on customers meeting certain fitness goals, typically tracked via a connected device. This turns a commodity product-a savings account-into a behavioral incentive tool. It's a low-cost, high-engagement strategy to pull in deposits from a national audience, which helps fund the local CRE and C&I lending operations. This niche digital bank is a key activity for geographic expansion without the cost of physical branches.

Affinity Bancshares, Inc. (AFBI) - Canvas Business Model: Key Resources

The core of Affinity Bancshares, Inc.'s (AFBI) business model relies on a mix of physical, financial, and human assets, all anchored by a critical intellectual resource: its national bank charter. This combination allows for consistent, relationship-driven lending in the Southeastern U.S.

Total assets of $925.2 million as of the third quarter of 2025

Your ability to lend and generate interest income is directly tied to the size of your balance sheet. For Affinity Bancshares, Inc., the total assets stood at a substantial $925.2 million as of September 30, 2025. This represents a solid increase of $58.4 million since the end of 2024, showing a clear growth trajectory in the asset base. This growth was largely funded by an increase in total deposits, which reached $739.4 million in the same period.

Here's the quick math: the asset base is nearly a billion dollars, giving the bank significant capacity for new lending and investment activities. What this estimate hides is the quality of those assets, which is generally strong, as indicated by a low non-performing loan ratio.

Strong loan portfolio totaling $729.5 million, heavily weighted toward real estate

The primary engine for revenue is the loan portfolio, which totaled $729.5 million at the end of the third quarter of 2025. This is the asset that generates the bulk of the net interest income, which was $22.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2025. The portfolio is defintely concentrated in real estate, which is typical for a regional bank.

The composition of the loan book is a critical detail for risk management, and it shows a heavy leaning toward commercial real estate (CRE). This segment makes up approximately 45% of the pre-provision loan book size. The allowance for credit losses to total loans was a manageable 1.17% at the end of Q3 2025.

• Total Gross Loans (Q3 2025): $729.5 million.
• Commercial Real Estate Share: Approximately 45% of the loan book.
• Allowance for Credit Losses: $8.6 million.

Bank charter and regulatory capital to support lending activities

The intellectual and regulatory foundation of the business is the bank charter itself. Affinity Bank operates as a National Association, a charter it converted to in September 2023. This status allows it to operate under a unified national regulatory framework, which simplifies multi-state operations, especially for specialized lending like indirect automobile and dental practice loans across the Southeastern United States.

Regulatory capital is the financial cushion that supports this charter. The stockholders' equity, a key measure of this capital, stood at $125.4 million as of September 30, 2025. This capital base is what allows the bank to maintain its lending capacity and absorb unexpected losses, a crucial resource that underpins all other activities.

Experienced regional management team and board of directors

The human capital is centered on a long-tenured, regionally focused team. The company employs 92 people, a lean structure for a bank of this size, which helps keep noninterest expenses down. The leadership's deep local knowledge is a key advantage in a relationship-driven market like Georgia.

The CEO, Edward J. Cooney, has been in his role since January 2020 and has nearly 30 years of banking experience. The stability of the governance structure is a key resource for strategic consistency.

To be fair, the average Board tenure of 15.8 years shows deep institutional knowledge, but also suggests a need for a continuous, thoughtful refresh to bring in new perspectives on emerging financial technologies and market risks.

Affinity Bancshares, Inc. (AFBI) - Canvas Business Model: Value Propositions

You're looking for the core value Affinity Bancshares, Inc. delivers, and it boils down to a dual-pronged approach: hyper-local, relationship-driven commercial banking in Georgia, plus a nationally competitive, niche digital deposit product. Their value isn't in scale; it's in specialization and high-touch service.

Full suite of financial products for both retail and commercial clients

Affinity Bancshares, Inc. provides a comprehensive, traditional banking suite, but its primary value is its focus on specialized lending. The bank isn't trying to be a national giant; it concentrates on specific, high-value lending segments, which is where the real revenue generation happens.

The loan portfolio, which reached $731.1 million as of June 30, 2025, confirms this focus. This book is heavily weighted toward commercial segments, including commercial real estate, construction, and specialized loans for niche markets like dental practice financing and indirect automobile lending. This specialization offers commercial clients a depth of expertise and a defintely faster decision-making process than they would find at larger, more bureaucratic institutions.

Here's the quick math on their core financial position as of mid-2025:

Relationship banking model based on local decision-making and community involvement

The community banking model is Affinity Bank's foundational value proposition for its local Georgia customers. This means local decision-making, which is a massive value-add for small to mid-sized commercial clients who need quick answers on commercial real estate or business loans.

The bank is consciously positioned as a community-focused institution within the competitive Georgia market, prioritizing personalized service over sheer scale. They operate primarily in Newton County and surrounding areas, including Cobb and Fulton Counties, with a small number of physical branches. [cite: 7 in first search, 11 in first search] This tight geographic focus allows them to build strong, lasting relationships, which is a crucial differentiator in a market dominated by regional and national banks.

• Get a banker, not a call center.

Competitive interest rates on deposits through the unique FitnessBank platform

This is the bank's most innovative value proposition, attracting deposits on a national level to fund its local lending. FitnessBank, a division of Affinity Bank, offers a high-yield savings account that ties the Annual Percentage Yield (APY) to the customer's physical activity-a clear example of a non-price value driver (convenience/newness) layered over a price incentive.

As of November 2025, the Fitness Bank Ultra Savings account offers a highly competitive APY of 4.75%, provided the customer maintains an average daily step count of 10,000 steps and an Elite Checking account with a $5,000 average daily balance. [cite: 3 in first search] To be fair, the standard Affinity Bank savings account rate is significantly lower, at just 0.10% APY, which highlights the unique value of the FitnessBank platform. [cite: 11 in first search] This model successfully captures lower-cost deposits from a health-conscious, national audience, which helps fund the higher-yield commercial loans in their Georgia footprint.

Wealth management, financial planning, and trust services for long-term goals

While the bank offers foundational banking services that support long-term goals, such as mortgages, CDs, and savings accounts, the value proposition for dedicated wealth management is not a primary driver of the business today. The bank's non-interest income was only $1.0 million for the first six months of 2025, which is low for a bank with a significant wealth management or trust services arm.

Instead, the long-term value for clients is centered on their core lending products:

• Commercial Real Estate: Funding long-term business asset acquisition.
• Specialized Loans: Providing capital for professional practices (like dental) to grow and expand.
• Residential Mortgages: Helping local clients achieve homeownership goals.

What this estimate hides is that the bank's primary value for long-term goals is delivered through its role as a trusted local lender and deposit holder, not a fee-based investment advisor. The bank is a lending machine.

Affinity Bancshares, Inc. (AFBI) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Relationships

Affinity Bancshares, Inc. manages its customer relationships through a dual-pronged approach: high-touch, dedicated service for its commercial clients and automated, rewards-based digital engagement for its retail base, particularly through the FitnessBank division. This strategy allows the company to maintain a strong community bank feel while driving efficiency and deposit growth with a unique, digitally-focused product.

Dedicated, high-touch relationship banking for commercial clients

The primary relationship model for commercial clients is a high-touch, advisory approach centered on local decision-making. Affinity Bank focuses on building deep ties with small and medium-sized businesses, primarily in its Georgia and Southeastern U.S. markets, offering bespoke solutions like treasury management and commercial lending. This personal service is critical for managing the bank's substantial commercial exposure.

As of September 30, 2025, the bank's total gross loans reached $729.5 million. The portfolio composition heavily favors commercial assets, which require this specialized relationship model to manage risk and foster growth. This focus on commercial relationships is a core driver of the bank's asset quality, with non-performing loans standing at $5.1 million as of Q3 2025.

Here is the quick math on the loan book composition, which drives the intensity of the relationship:

The need for local expertise and personal contact is defintely clear when a significant portion of your business is tied up in commercial real estate and commercial and industrial (C&I) loans.

Self-service digital channels via mobile and online banking

For its retail and smaller business clients, Affinity Bancshares provides comprehensive self-service options through its digital platforms. This is the low-cost, high-efficiency channel for transactional banking. The emphasis here is on convenience and speed, allowing customers to manage their accounts without requiring branch or call center intervention.

The operational shift towards digital is evident in the bank's non-interest income trends. Service charges on deposit accounts-a common proxy for in-branch activity-decreased in 2025, contributing to a total non-interest income decrease of $246,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2025. This suggests a successful migration of routine transactions to lower-fee digital channels, which ultimately reduces the bank's operating expenses. The bank's efficiency ratio of 64.96% in Q3 2025 reflects this operational discipline.

Key digital self-service features include:

• Mobile Banking with Mobile Deposit.
• Online Bill Pay for both personal and business accounts.
• Treasury Management solutions for commercial clients.

Community engagement to foster deep local ties

As a regional bank, Affinity Bancshares maintains a community-centric relationship model, which is vital for deposit gathering and local lending in its core markets like Newton County, Georgia. This relationship is built on trust and visibility, often through local events and direct support.

The bank's physical presence and local decision-making authority-a key differentiator from larger national banks-foster a deep sense of loyalty. This community focus helps drive deposits, which increased by $65.9 million to a total of $739.4 million at September 30, 2025. The growth in deposits, especially demand deposits, which saw a net increase of $57.8 million in the first nine months of 2025, is a direct indicator of strong local confidence and relationship effectiveness.

Automated, rewards-based interaction through the FitnessBank program

The FitnessBank division is a unique, automated relationship model that ties financial rewards directly to customer activity and healthy lifestyle choices. This is a purely digital, national-reach strategy designed to attract high-quality, low-cost deposits by gamifying the banking experience.

The relationship is managed primarily through a mobile step-tracking app that automatically calculates rewards. This is a genius way to build loyalty without high overhead.

The reward structure is clear and highly competitive, offering a significant incentive for active engagement:

• Earn up to 5.25% APY on the Fitness Checking account for customers who hit a 10,000 average daily step count and complete 15 debit card transactions monthly.
• Offer an Ultra Savings Rate of 4.75% APY on the Fitness Savings account when paired with the checking account and meeting other requirements.

This automated reward system creates a sticky relationship where the customer is incentivized to interact daily (by checking their steps) and transact frequently (via debit card swipes), generating both data and low-cost deposits for the bank.

Affinity Bancshares, Inc. (AFBI) - Canvas Business Model: Channels

The channels for Affinity Bancshares, Inc. (AFBI) are a hybrid model, balancing a targeted, high-touch physical presence in Georgia with a national, technology-driven approach for specialized lending and virtual deposits. You need to see this as a dual strategy: a community bank for local commercial relationships and a fintech-lite play for scale.

Network of full-service physical bank branches and ATMs in Georgia and other regions

Affinity Bank maintains a lean, focused physical footprint, concentrating its full-service operations in key Georgia markets. This small network supports the community banking model, where face-to-face relationships-especially with commercial clients-still drive significant value. As of late 2025, the bank operates a total of 3 full-service branches, primarily in the Atlanta metropolitan area and its surrounding counties.

What this small network hides is the strategic placement. One branch is near the Atlanta business hub, and the others anchor the core market in Covington. Still, the bank is adapting the physical channel; one of its Covington locations has a closed lobby and functions mainly as a drive-thru and ATM access point, a clear nod to changing customer behavior.

Digital and mobile banking platforms for 24/7 account access

The digital channel is crucial for servicing the existing customer base and providing the expected convenience of 24/7 access. While not a pure digital bank, Affinity Bank offers comprehensive online and mobile banking capabilities. This channel is not just for retail customers; it's a critical tool for business clients.

For commercial customers, the bank offers Remote Deposit Capture (RDC), allowing them to scan and electronically deposit checks from their office. This saves them a trip to one of the three branches, defintely boosting efficiency. This digital channel is vital for maintaining customer satisfaction, especially when you consider that approximately 77% of all banking interactions in the US now occur through digital channels. [cite: 10 in original search, 10]

Key digital channel features include:

• Online and mobile account management for deposits and transfers.
• Remote Deposit Capture (RDC) for commercial clients.
• Bill payment services and treasury management solutions.
• Kasasa (rewards) deposit programs to incentivize digital engagement.

Direct loan origination teams for commercial and consumer lending

The lending channel is a direct, relationship-driven channel that extends beyond the physical branch footprint. The loan origination teams are highly specialized, focusing on niche markets where the bank has deep expertise, such as dental practice lending and indirect auto lending. This specialization allows them to compete effectively outside of their immediate Georgia market, reaching customers across the broader Southeastern United States.

The success of this channel is clear in the balance sheet. Total gross loans grew by $15.4 million to reach $729.5 million as of September 30, 2025, compared to the end of 2024. Here's the quick math: that loan growth, driven by steady demand in construction, consumer, and commercial real estate loans, is a direct result of these targeted origination teams.

Virtual bank operations through the FitnessBank brand

FitnessBank is the bank's pure virtual channel, a strategic move to gather low-cost, national deposits without the overhead of physical branches. It's a virtual bank that incentivizes healthy behavior by offering customers higher interest rates on savings accounts based on meeting specific fitness goals. This is a brilliant, low-cost customer acquisition model for the liability side of the balance sheet.

This virtual channel is a key component of the bank's overall deposit growth. Total deposits for Affinity Bancshares, Inc. increased by $65.9 million to $739.4 million in the nine months ending September 30, 2025. A substantial portion of this growth, a $57.8 million net increase in demand deposits, is fueled by the success of its digital and virtual offerings like FitnessBank, which typically attract non-certificate of deposit (CD) funds.

Affinity Bancshares, Inc. (AFBI) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Segments

The customer segments for Affinity Bancshares, Inc. (AFBI) are deliberately diversified across retail, commercial, and a national niche market, which helps to balance the risk profile of its $925.2 million in total assets as of Q3 2025.

The bank focuses on a relationship-driven model for its core commercial clients while using its virtual platform, FitnessBank, to gather deposits nationally. This dual approach gives them a stable, growing deposit base, which increased by $65.9 million to $739.4 million in the nine months ended September 30, 2025.

Individuals and retail clients seeking deposit and consumer loan products

This segment represents the traditional community banking customer, providing a stable source of core deposits and consumer lending revenue. Retail clients utilize standard offerings like checking, savings, and certificates of deposit (CDs). The bank also offers consumer lending products, including residential mortgages, home equity lines of credit (HELOCs), and vehicle financing.

The retail deposit base is a critical funding source, contributing significantly to the total deposit figure of $739.4 million as of September 30, 2025. For example, the combined savings and money market accounts alone totaled approximately $270.4 million at the end of the third quarter.

Here's the quick math on the deposit mix, which shows a strong reliance on retail and commercial checking/savings accounts:

Small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) needing commercial loans and treasury services

SMBs are the primary drivers of the bank's lending portfolio. Affinity Bank provides these customers with commercial real estate (CRE) loans, commercial and industrial (C&I) loans, Small Business Administration (SBA) loans, and treasury management services.

The loan book, totaling $729.5 million as of Q3 2025, is heavily weighted toward CRE, which makes up roughly 45% of the pre-provision loan book size. This focus means a significant portion of the SMB segment is comprised of real estate investors and owner-occupied businesses.

A key sub-segment is the professional practice lending group, which includes:

• Financing for dental practice loans across the Southeastern United States.
• Commercial real estate loans secured by non-owner occupied office space, which totaled $41.1 million in Q3 2025.
• Of that office total, $15.6 million is specifically tied to medical/dental tenants, showing a focused expertise in the healthcare-related SMB sector.

Geographically focused clients in key Georgia counties and the broader Southeast

The core physical customer base is concentrated in Georgia, where the bank maintains its headquarters and branches. This segment relies on local decision-making and in-person relationship banking. The primary market includes Newton County, Georgia, and surrounding counties, plus key metropolitan areas like Cobb and Fulton Counties in Atlanta.

Beyond Georgia, the bank actively originates loans-specifically indirect automobile loans and the aforementioned dental practice loans-across the broader Southeastern United States. However, it is worth noting that some market reports also cite the bank as predominantly serving West Texas and Eastern New Mexico through a network of full-service branches, which suggests a dual-market strategy or a focus on specific, non-contiguous lending areas.

Customers interested in niche, health-incentivized deposit products (FitnessBank)

This is the bank's national, virtual customer segment, acquired through its division, FitnessBank. The segment is composed of financially-literate individuals nationwide who are also health-conscious. They are attracted by a unique value proposition: a higher annual percentage yield (APY) on their savings that is tied to an average daily step count.

FitnessBank's Ultra Savings account, for example, offered a high-yield savings rate of up to 4.75% APY as of November 2025, provided the customer meets a minimum average daily step count of 10,000. This national virtual platform is a major engine for the bank's deposit growth, enabling it to gather deposits from outside its traditional Georgia assessment area without the cost of new physical branches. This is defintely a low-cost way to fund loan growth.

Affinity Bancshares, Inc. (AFBI) - Canvas Business Model: Cost Structure

You want to know where Affinity Bancshares, Inc. (AFBI) is spending its money, and honestly, the Cost Structure for any bank is mostly a story about the cost of funds and the cost of running the branch network. For AFBI in late 2025, the story is one of high, but managed, interest costs and successful expense control.

The largest single cost is the interest paid out to depositors and on borrowings, which is a direct consequence of the current interest rate environment. Still, the company has done a good job of cutting down on non-core expenses like merger-related fees, which is a defintely positive sign for core profitability going forward.

Significant interest expense on deposits and borrowings, totaling $19.76 million (TTM Sep '25)

The most critical cost for Affinity Bancshares remains the interest expense, or the cost of funds (CoF). This is the money the bank pays to attract and retain deposits and service its debt. For the Trailing Twelve Months (TTM) ended September 30, 2025, the total interest expense hit $19.76 million.

Here's the quick math on how that breaks down. The vast majority-over 89%-goes to depositors, reflecting the competitive environment for customer funds. The cost of deposits is the primary driver of their overall cost of funds.

Noninterest expenses, which saw a decline in 2025 due to reduced fees and merger costs

Noninterest expenses cover everything outside of interest payments and loan loss provisions, including salaries, rent, and technology. This is where management has shown real discipline. Total non-interest expense for the nine months ended September 30, 2025, was $16.3 million.

To be fair, the decline is largely due to non-recurring items rolling off the books. The company saw a $1.7 million decrease in non-interest expense for the nine months through Q3 2025 compared to the prior year, specifically because of a reduction in merger-related expenses. In the most recent quarter, Q3 2025, non-interest expense was held at $5.4 million, down $275,000 from the same period in 2024, primarily due to lower other fees.

Personnel and occupancy costs for branch network and corporate functions

The bank's operating model relies on its branch network and corporate staff, so personnel and occupancy costs are the largest fixed costs in the noninterest category. These costs are the engine room of the business model. For the first quarter of 2025 alone, these costs were substantial:

• Salaries and employee benefits: $3,359 thousand
• Occupancy (rent, utilities, etc.): $605 thousand

These fixed costs are what the bank needs to cover every quarter just to keep the lights on and the staff paid, regardless of loan volume. Managing these costs is key to improving the efficiency ratio (noninterest expense divided by revenue).

Minimal provision for credit losses of only $12 thousand in Q3 2025, showing strong asset quality

The provision for credit losses is the amount the bank sets aside to cover expected losses on its loan portfolio. A low provision is a strong signal of asset quality (the health of the loans). This is the one cost line that looks exceptionally strong.

For the third quarter of 2025, the provision for credit losses was only $12 thousand. This minimal amount suggests management is highly confident in the credit quality of its loans, even with non-performing loans increasing slightly to $5.1 million at September 30, 2025, from $4.8 million at the end of 2024. The allowance for credit losses still stands at a healthy 168.4% of non-performing loans, which is a solid buffer.

Next step: Portfolio Managers: Analyze the TTM interest expense breakdown to identify opportunities for shifting funding mix away from high-cost deposits by month-end.

Affinity Bancshares, Inc. (AFBI) - Canvas Business Model: Revenue Streams

Net Interest Income (NII) from loans and investments, totaling $22.9 million for the first nine months of 2025

The core of Affinity Bancshares, Inc.'s revenue model, like any community bank, is its Net Interest Income (NII). This is the difference between the interest earned on assets-primarily loans and investment securities-and the interest paid on liabilities, which are mostly customer deposits. For the first nine months of 2025, the bank generated a strong NII of $22.9 million. Here's the quick math: you lend money at a higher rate than you borrow it, and that spread is your profit engine.

This NII figure shows the bank's effectiveness in managing its interest rate risk and its loan portfolio growth, defintely a key metric for investors.

Interest income on loans, which was the primary driver of the Q3 2025 profit increase

Interest income on the loan portfolio is the single biggest contributor to the NII. The bank's strategic focus on growing its commercial real estate (CRE) and residential mortgage portfolios has paid off. In the third quarter of 2025 (Q3 2025), the increase in interest income from loans was the main reason for the overall profit jump.

Specifically, the average yield on the total loan portfolio has been trending upward, reflecting the higher rate environment. This is a direct result of new loan originations being priced higher and existing loans repricing.

Non-interest income from service charges, treasury management, and wealth management fees

While NII is the main event, a healthy non-interest income stream is crucial for stability and diversification. This is money earned from fees, not from the interest rate spread. It acts as a necessary hedge when interest rate cycles compress the NII margin.

Affinity Bancshares, Inc. pulls in non-interest income from several sources, helping to broaden its customer relationships beyond just lending.

• Service charges: Fees on deposit accounts, overdrafts, and transactional services.
• Treasury management: Fees from services provided to business clients, like lockbox and automated clearing house (ACH) services.
• Wealth management fees: Revenue from managing client investment portfolios and providing financial planning advice.

To be fair, non-interest income typically represents a smaller portion of total revenue compared to NII, but it's a high-margin, sticky revenue source.

Gains on the sale of investment securities (though this saw a decline in 2025)

Banks often sell parts of their investment securities portfolio-like U.S. Treasury bonds or mortgage-backed securities-to manage their balance sheet, optimize capital, or realize gains. This is another source of non-interest income.

However, in 2025, with the volatile and generally rising rate environment, many banks, including Affinity Bancshares, Inc., saw a decline in gains from selling investment securities. When interest rates rise, the market value of existing, lower-rate bonds falls, making it less profitable to sell them. This is a near-term risk to watch, but it also reflects a prudent decision to hold securities to maturity rather than realize a loss.

Here is a simplified look at the revenue composition for the first nine months of 2025: