Metro City Bank for first-gen and Korean American households

Overview

Metro City Bank opened in 2006 as a Georgia state-chartered, FDIC-insured bank (certificate 58181) headquartered in Doraville, in metro Atlanta’s Buford Highway corridor. Founder Nack Y. Paek (holding-company chairman and CEO; bank executive chairman) came from SBA loan servicing and CPA work with Asian immigrant clients before building the bank. Holding company MetroCity Bankshares trades as Nasdaq: MCBS. On December 1, 2025 it completed the acquisition of First IC Corporation, another Doraville Korean American lender, and folded First IC Bank into Metro City Bank. As of June 30, 2026 the company reported about $4.52 billion in assets. Brand angle: Korean American and multi-ethnic small-business banking anchored in the Southeast and Texas, with SBA, USDA, CRE, and trade-document services — not a Los Angeles Koreatown super-regional and not a national digital megabank.

Strengths

• Largest Korean American bank franchise headquartered outside Los Angeles
• SBA 7(a)/504 and USDA B&I/REAP pathways for immigrant-owned shops and rural-eligible projects
• CDARS for households and businesses parking deposits above the standard FDIC per-bank limit
• Eight-state branch map after First IC, dense around Atlanta plus Texas, Florida, Virginia, and NY/NJ

Footprint

Headquarters at 5114 Buford Highway, Doraville, Georgia. Mid-2026 disclosures cite 27 full-service branches and two loan production offices across Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, New York, New Jersey, Texas, and Virginia (counts change with openings and consolidation). Georgia remains the home market; California is a small post-merger presence (for example Los Angeles Wilshire and Fullerton), not a West Coast land-grab. Not digital-only.

Services

• Consumer banking
• Small business
• Commercial / middle market
• SBA lending
• Mortgages
• Trade finance
• International wires

Personal and business deposits (checking ladder including New Jersey Consumer Checking, savings, money markets, CDs), commercial and SBA lending, USDA Business & Industry and REAP loans, residential mortgages, cash management, standby letters of credit and documentary collections, and domestic/international wires. CD rates are typically confirmed at the branch rather than as a permanent online promo table.

Best for

• Korea corridor households
• Immigrant-owned small business
• Hands-on branch banking
• Cross-border and trade complexity
• Upwardly mobile professionals

Best fit when you want a Korean American commercial bank whose center of gravity is Atlanta and the Southeast (plus Dallas/Houston, Tampa, Northern Virginia, Flushing/Bayside, Fort Lee), not Koreatown Los Angeles. Strong for immigrant and second-gen owners whose files look like convenience retail, hospitality, warehouses, beauty supply, restaurants, or owner-occupied CRE, and who may need SBA paperwork or a rural USDA B&I structure. Compared with Bank of Hope (Korean American super-regional scale) and Hanmi (first Korean American bank, LA roots), Metro City is the Atlanta-anchored mid-size option (~$4.5B). Compared with Shinhan Bank America (~$2B, Korea-parent subsidiary), Metro City is the larger independent public franchise with deeper Georgia density. California customers should treat the two SoCal branches as a limited add-on, not Hope-level West Coast coverage.

Less ideal for: People who only want a national digital checking app with top online savings APYs, households far from Metro City’s eight-state map who will never visit a branch, or ultra-HNW clients seeking a global private-bank brand.

Compelling offers

Checked against bank pages as of July 28, 2026. Bonuses, fee waivers, and rate specials change often. Confirm eligibility and end dates on the bank’s site before you plan around them.

• SBA 7(a) and 504 loans

  Metro City Bank markets SBA 7(a) and 504 loans for owner-occupied real estate, construction, business acquisition, equipment, inventory, working capital, and refinancing, with terms the bank describes as up to 25 years for land and buildings and loan amounts up to $5 million aggregate under program limits.

  SBA eligibility, equity injection, and credit still control. Prepayment penalties can apply on longer terms. Ask a commercial banker which program fits your file; approval is not automatic.

  Metro City Bank SBA loans →

• USDA B&I and REAP loans

  Beyond SBA, the bank offers USDA Business & Industry and Rural Energy for America Program loans for eligible rural projects (population under 50,000), including real estate, construction, equipment, working capital, and refinancing, with marketing language citing loan amounts up to $25 million and real-estate terms up to 30 years.

  Project address must clear USDA rural eligibility maps. Underwriting, guarantees, and fees still apply. Confirm whether your site qualifies before treating USDA as Plan A.

  Metro City Bank USDA loans →

• CDARS for large CD placements

  Through CDARS (Certificate of Deposit Account Registry Service), Metro City Bank can place deposits above the standard $250,000 FDIC per-ownership limit across a network of banks while you keep one relationship, one rate set at Metro City, and one statement. The bank cites network capacity for individual deposits up to $50 million. Standard CDs start at a $1,000 minimum with terms from 30 days to five years.

  CDARS availability, rates, and early-withdrawal rules are branch-quoted. Network placement is not the same as earning a published online HYSA APY. Call 770-455-4989 or visit a branch before wiring a large sum.

  Metro City Bank CDs and CDARS →

• International trade documents and wires

  The bank’s international desk lists standby letters of credit and import/export documentary collections (documents against payment and documents against acceptance), plus domestic and international wire transfers. Incoming wire instructions route through the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta with ABA 061120686.

  Trade facilities need underwriting and documents; all trade services are described as U.S.-dollar and collateralized. Wire fees and FX drive family-support costs — compare net received against a remittance app you already trust.

  Metro City Bank international services →

Next steps

• Immigrant-Owned Small Business Financing Basics

  Ownership maps, SBA and bank eligibility, personal guarantees, and backup capital for diaspora restaurants, agencies, clinics, and digital businesses when federal rules and family co-signing overlap.

• Send Money to Korea From the U.S.

  How the U.S.–Korea remittance corridor works, common delivery paths, licensed provider types, and planning questions before you send to family in South Korea.

• Plan Korea Remittances in Your U.S. Household Budget

  Cap sends to South Korea, separate holiday spikes from monthly support, and protect U.S. retirement when parents at home and abroad both need you.

• Small Business Banking When Your Books Don't Match Mainstream Templates

  Why cash-heavy diaspora shops, informal family capital, and bilingual receipts trigger bank friction, and how community lenders, CDFIs, and clean charts of accounts reduce denials before growth stalls.

• Family Support Budget Calculator

  Map parent support, remittances, and sibling help against housing, debt, emergency savings, and retirement so family obligations stay visible in your monthly plan.

• Remittance Quote Worksheet

  Copy two provider disclosures side by side to compare total paid, amount delivered, effective exchange rate, funding method, and delivery time.

• Household dashboard

  Track family support beside U.S. bills and savings once the account is open.

• All planners

  Send corridors and inheritance scenarios when banking is only one piece of the file.

Related bank profiles

• Bank of Hope — The largest Korean American bank by franchise scale — a super-regional built from Koreatown predecessors and expanded into a multistate multicultural bank.
• Hanmi Bank — The first Korean American bank in the U.S., still oriented to immigrant and multi-ethnic small-business communities in Koreatown and other Asian American MSAs.
• Shinhan Bank America — A Korea-parent FDIC bank for Korean American households and small businesses. Smaller than Hope or Hanmi, with bilingual branches in NY/NJ, California, Georgia, and Texas.
• East West Bank — The largest Asian American–owned bank by scale, built as a U.S.–Asia bridge for Chinese American communities and cross-border commercial clients.

Related send corridors

• Send money to South Korea from the U.S.