A banking veteran of 40 years, Mr. Stephen W. Whatley recognized and embraced the need for a community bank that understands and values the needs of customers today. With that, he embarked on his mission to assemble a group of organizers that shared the same vision and in turn opened Southern States Bank.

The optimism greatly spread as Mr. Whatley and organizers raised in excess of $31 million in capital and on August 27, 2007 Southern States Bank, The Common Sense Bank, opened offices in Anniston and Opelika simultaneously. Less than a year later, in February 2008, a third location was opened in Birmingham, followed by the acquisition of the Sylacauga office in May 2012. In January 2015, two new offices were opened, one in Huntsville and the first Georgia location in Columbus. A second office in Georgia was opened in June 2015 in Carrollton, followed by a SBA Loan Production office that opended in Atlanta in August 2015.

Southern States Bank has been voted The Best Company to Work for in Alabama in 2012 and 2014 and was ranked #72 as a Top 100 Community Bank.  The success of Southern States Bank is owed to their customers, employees, Board members and stockholders and continues to thrive as a safe, sound community bank.

Happy Birthday Southern States Bank!