MASHINIi

First Merchants Corporation.

FRME.US | Other monetary intermediation

First Merchants Corporation is a bank holding company. It provides a range of financial services through its banking subsidiaries. These services include commercial and industrial lending, agricultural lending, consumer lending (including mortgage loans, credit cards, and installment loans), and tru...Show More

Ethical Profile

Mixed.

First Merchants Corporation receives a mixed ethical rating. Critics point to employee concerns about low pay, disconnected management, and a "toxic sales culture," with compensation and benefits rated 2.8 out of 5 and a 4% decrease in the last year. However, the CEO's compensation ratio is 31:1, better than many companies, and the bank has won awards for work-life balance. In 2023, a vendor data breach allegedly exposed customer names and SSNs. Reports also suggest mobile banking messages may not be encrypted, though the company shares annual penetration test reports and states compliance with federal law. There's a significant data gap regarding its carbon emissions and climate action initiatives.

Value Scores

Better Health for All0
-100100
Fair Money & Economic Opportunity-30
-100100
Fair Pay & Worker Respect10
-100100
Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing0
-100100
Honest & Fair Business0
-100100
Kind to Animals0
-100100
No War, No Weapons0
-100100
Planet-Friendly Business0
-100100
Respect for Cultures & Communities0
-100100
Safe & Smart Tech-50
-100100
Zero Waste & Sustainable Products0
-100100

Better Health for All

0

First Merchants Corporation is a bank holding company, and its core business activities, such as commercial and consumer lending, deposit accounts, and wealth management, do not have a direct positive or negative impact on health outcomes. The company's financial products and services are not health-related, and therefore, most KPIs related to direct health impact, harmful revenue, safety of health products, price accessibility of health products, vulnerable reach for health needs, health innovation, health externalities, health equity programs, healthcare workforce support, preventative health measures, and mental health initiatives are not applicable. While the company offers health-related employee benefits (health, dental, vision, prescription drug insurance, wellness programs) and has comprehensive information security and cybersecurity programs for customer data, these do not directly align with the specific definitions and thresholds of the 'Better Health for All' KPIs, which focus on the health impact of core products/services and specific health-related initiatives for the general public.

1
2
The company's operations are not directly relevant to health crisis response.

Fair Money & Economic Opportunity

-30

First Merchants Corporation settled with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) in June 2019 regarding issues raised relative to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and the Fair Housing Act, covering an investigation period from January 2011 to December 2016.

1
The company committed to a five-year, $1.4 billion community investment plan through 2025, with $580 million allocated to community development lending and investments.
2
In 2020, First Merchants donated $1 million to pandemic relief efforts.
3
The company offers financial wellness programs, impacting 21,578 people in 2020, and provides financial education to 3,029 students across 52 schools, totaling 4,909 hours of learning.
4
First Merchants also partners with Junior Achievement, with team members volunteering nearly 1,000 hours in 2024.
5
The company plans to open new banking centers in Marion County, IN, Lake County, IN, Franklin County, OH, and Wayne County, MI, which are low- and moderate-income areas with large minority populations.
6
The company also supports non-traditional credit history documentation like rent and utility payments.
7

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

10

First Merchants Corporation's CEO to median employee pay ratio was 31:1 in 2023, with the CEO's total compensation at $1,787,750 and median employee pay at $57,195.

1
The company has no mention of regulatory actions, violations, fines, or compliance issues across multiple articles.

Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing

0

First Merchants Corporation is a bank holding company providing financial services. Consequently, several KPIs related to the procurement and trading of physical commodities, such as fair-trade certifications, supplier audits for welfare, forced/child labor incidents in upstream supply chains, supply chain traceability, remediation speed for sourcing violations, and high-risk material sourcing, are not applicable to its core business model. While the company aims to increase procurement from African American-owned businesses by over five times, no specific percentage of the procurement budget directed to diverse suppliers is provided.

1
Similarly, there is no evidence regarding the inclusion of enforceable ethical-sourcing clauses in supplier contracts.
2

Honest & Fair Business

0

No evidence available to assess First Merchants Corporation on Honest & Fair Business.

Kind to Animals

0

No evidence available to assess First Merchants Corporation on Kind to Animals.

No War, No Weapons

0

No evidence available to assess First Merchants Corporation on No War, No Weapons.

Planet-Friendly Business

0

No specific quantitative data is available regarding First Merchants Corporation's environmental performance.

1
The company does not publicly report its carbon emissions, reduction targets, or climate action initiatives.
2
Information on regulatory actions, violations, fines, or compliance issues is also not provided in the available articles.
3
Therefore, a comprehensive assessment against the provided KPIs is not possible based on the evidence.

Respect for Cultures & Communities

0

No evidence available to assess First Merchants Corporation on Respect for Cultures & Communities.

Safe & Smart Tech

-50

First Merchants Bank experienced a vendor data breach between May 28 and May 30, 2023, which resulted in unauthorized access to customer data including names, SSN, addresses, and financial information.

1
The company disclosed this incident by July 10, 2023.
2
Mobile banking messages may not be encrypted.
3
The company conducts annual penetration tests.
4
Users can decline access to device information and update permissions.
5
The company states its security measures comply with federal law.
6

Zero Waste & Sustainable Products

0

No specific, quantitative data regarding First Merchants Corporation's waste diversion rate, product recyclability, packaging sustainability, recycled content, single-use plastic reduction, take-back programs, circular design principles, waste reduction initiatives, hazardous waste management, product durability, repairability, waste audit frequency, zero waste certification, waste disposal violations, material efficiency, packaging-to-product ratio, waste reduction targets, supplier waste requirements, or customer waste education could be found in the provided articles.

1
The articles primarily note a lack of publicly available data for these metrics concerning First Merchants Corporation.
2

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AI-generated analysis based on publicly available data. Not financial advice. Ratings are expressions of opinion derived from automated models and may contain inaccuracies. See our Risk Disclosure for full details.