JKHY Powers Mercantile Bank's Expansion With Core Innovation

Jack Henry & Associates JKHY has signed a new core client, Mercantile Bank, which is the largest community bank in Michigan with $6.2 billion in assets. Mercantile Bank aims to use Jack Henry & Associates’ core processing platform and Enterprise Workflow tools to focus on improving efficiency, while reducing manual work, and support its expansion plans.

Mercantile Bank, which was founded in 1997, has grown through both new branches and acquisitions. It now has nearly 50 locations across Michigan and is expanding in Detroit, Eastern Michigan, and the Lakeshore. To support this growth, the bank ran a two-year review with more than 60 stakeholders before choosing Jack Henry & Associates.

The choice shows how Jack Henry & Associates’ open and flexible technology is appealing to community banks that want to modernize systems and cut costs. Mercantile Bank’s leaders also said Jack Henry & Associates’ culture and service approach were a good fit.

For Jack Henry & Associates, this win adds to its record of signing larger banks and expanding its base among community and regional institutions. It also shows the company’s ability to compete with larger core providers as banks seek new technology to stay competitive.

This deal also supports Jack Henry & Associates’ long-term growth strategy, which focuses on adding recurring revenues from core clients while helping banks move toward more digital and automated systems.

Jack Henry Connects Small Banks to Everyday Payment Tools

Jack Henry’s growth in digital payments is not happening alone. The company is working with Visa V and Mastercard MA to power its new Rapid Transfers product, which allows consumers and small businesses to quickly transfer money between accounts, cards, and wallets. 

Both Visa and Mastercard have already certified Jack Henry’s solution, which is being rolled out to clients on the Banno digital platform. This partnership with Visa and Mastercard shows how Jack Henry is using established payment rails to compete more effectively in the fast-moving real-time payments space.

Jack Henry’s role in community banking goes beyond back-end systems. Its technology platform gives smaller banks access to modern retail payment tools, such as Zelle, Apple’s AAPL Apple Pay, and instant debit issuance. The SouthTrust Bank deal shows how this works in practice.

In May 2025, SouthTrust, which is a $550 million-asset bank in Texas, selected Jack Henry to upgrade its core systems and digital offerings. Utilizing Jack Henry’s platform, the bank is now able to integrate with third-party fintechs and roll out the features that were once too expensive or complex. This includes Apple Pay, enabling customers to make secure, contactless payments directly from their iPhones, as well as Zelle, which can be used for person-to-person transfers.

By enabling Apple Pay and other services, Jack Henry aims to help community banks stay competitive with larger banks and fintechs. Moreover, this also shows how JKHY continues to actively work with major players, such as Apple, Visa, and Mastercard, in order to bring modern payments into the community banking market, all of which are central to digital payments.

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