Merchants Bank, Carmel, ranked in the top 10 of American Banker’s Top Performing Banks of 2026 in the category of banks with $10-50 billion in assets.
- Merchants came in at #7;
- First Financial Bank, Cincinnati, was #24;
- Community Financial System, Syracuse, NY, which recently acquired ClearPoint Federal Bank & Trust, Batesville, ranked #27;
- First Merchants Bank, Muncie, came in at #30; and
- Busey Bank, Champaign, IL, came in at #36.
The consulting firm Capital Performance Group produced the rankings based on institutions’ three-year average return on average equity, using data from year-end 2025.
In the $2-10 billion category, The National Bank of Indianapolis ranked #27 and First Farmers Bank & Trust Co., Converse, came in at #41.
In the category of public banks under $2 billion, Farmers State Bank, LaGrange, ranked #32 and First State Bank of Middlebury ranked #57.






