PCB Bank for first-gen and Korean American households

Overview

PCB Bank opened in 2003 in Los Angeles as Pacific City Bank, founded by Korean Americans focused on business banking for the greater Los Angeles Korean American community. Parent PCB Bancorp (Nasdaq: PCB) completed a holding-company reorganization in 2007 and listed on Nasdaq in 2018; the bank rebranded from Pacific City Bank to PCB Bank in August 2022. President and CEO Henry Kim leads the franchise. As of June 30, 2026 PCB Bancorp reported about $3.47 billion in assets, about $2.93 billion in loans held for investment, and about $2.92 billion in deposits. Investor materials describe about 15 full-service branches and loan originators across six states. Brand angle: Korean American relationship commercial banking with SBA Preferred Lending and a dedicated trade-finance department, denser than a thin Korea-parent U.S. subsidiary map but smaller than Bank of Hope or Hanmi super-regional scale.

Strengths

• Korean American founding story with Koreatown headquarters and bilingual relationship banking
• Multistate retail map: Southern California, Bayside NY, Englewood Cliffs and Palisades Park NJ, Carrollton and Dallas TX, Suwanee GA, plus Bellevue WA loan coverage
• SBA Preferred Lender for 7(a) and 504 pathways up to published SBA limits
• Trade finance desk for letters of credit and documentary collections aimed at import/export shops

Footprint

Headquarters in Los Angeles Koreatown (Wilshire corridor). Full-service branches listed for Olympic, Western, Wilshire, Downtown Fashion District, Torrance, Rowland Heights, Cerritos/Artesia, Fullerton/Buena Park, Irvine, Bayside (Queens), Englewood Cliffs and Palisades Park (New Jersey), Carrollton and Dallas (Texas), and Suwanee (Georgia), with loan offices including Bellevue, Washington and Atlanta-area mortgage warehouse coverage. Counts change with openings. Not a nationwide digital bank. Confirm live hours on mypcbbank.com (do not confuse with unrelated banks that share a PCB acronym).

Services

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

Personal and business deposits (EZ and Deluxe checking ladders, savings, money markets, CDs), commercial and investor real-estate lending, SBA 7(a) and 504, residential mortgages, cash management, trade finance (commercial and standby letters of credit, D/P and D/A collections), and domestic/international wires. Incoming wire materials commonly cite routing 122043602 and SWIFT BIC PACBUS6L. ScoreCard rewards debit cards are marketed across personal and business checking tiers.

Best for

• Korea corridor households
• Immigrant-owned small business
• Cross-border and trade complexity
• Hands-on branch banking
• Language access and cultural fit

Best fit when Korean American community commercial banking is the job and you already live near a PCB metro: Los Angeles Koreatown and Orange County, Bayside or Bergen County, DFW Korean corridors, or Suwanee / Atlanta suburbs. Strong for immigrant-owned shops that need SBA, CRE, and trade letters of credit with bilingual bankers rather than Chase or Bank of America national stacks. Compared with Bank of Hope and Hanmi, PCB is the smaller independent (~$3.5B vs multi-billion super-regionals). Compared with Shinhan Bank America and Woori America Bank, PCB is a U.S.-founded Korean American franchise rather than a Seoul-parent subsidiary. Compared with Metro City Bank (~$4.5B, Atlanta HQ), PCB is the Los Angeles Koreatown mid-size option with a thinner Southeast retail map but deeper SoCal branch density.

Less ideal for: Households that only need a national digital checking app with no Korean American commercial relationship, people far from PCB’s branch and LPO map who will never meet a banker, or readers who confuse this franchise with unrelated U.S. banks that also use a PCB brand name.

Compelling offers

Checked against bank pages as of July 29, 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 Preferred Lender (7(a) and 504)

  PCB Bank is an SBA Preferred Lender Program bank marketing 7(a) loans for owner-occupied CRE, acquisitions, refinance, equipment, working capital, and leasehold improvements (up to about $5 million on published tables), plus 504 structures for owner-occupied buildings and long-life equipment with local credit decisions.

  Preferred Lender status does not guarantee approval. Size standards, use of proceeds, equity, and credit still control. Contact the SBA department (Wilshire loan center) before treating a listing as a commitment.

  PCB Bank SBA Loans →

• Trade finance: L/Cs and documentary collections

  The Trade Finance Department (Fashion District Los Angeles) markets commercial and standby letters of credit plus Documents Against Payment and Documents Against Acceptance processing for small- to mid-size import/export businesses, with full business analysis to package cash-management and credit products.

  Trade facilities need underwriting and documents. FX and wire fees still drive family-support costs; compare net received against a remittance app. Confirm SWIFT PACBUS6L and branch cutoffs before sending.

  PCB Bank Trade Finance →

• PCB EZ Checking: $0 monthly service fee

  Personal PCB EZ Checking opens at $100 with no monthly service fee, online and mobile banking, bill pay, debit card, and ScoreCard rewards. EZ Student Checking is marketed on the same no-fee path for eligible students. New York and New Jersey also offer a Basic Checking tier with a $25 opening deposit and a $3 monthly fee.

  ATM network surcharges and other schedule fees can still apply. Confirm which product your state branch offers before assuming EZ Checking is the default everywhere.

  PCB Bank Personal Checking →

• Business PCB EZ Checking from $100

  Business EZ Checking opens at $100 with low monthly fees, 30 free monthly debit transactions, free debit card, ScoreCard rewards, and online/mobile/bill-pay tools. Regular, Analysis, and Super NOW business checking tiers scale up for higher balances and item volumes.

  Per-item fees kick in after free-transaction allowances. Analysis pricing is branch-specific. Online enrollment paths still often start with a branch relationship for commercial clients.

  PCB Bank Business Checking →

• International wires (SWIFT PACBUS6L)

  PCB publishes wire instructions for receiving domestic and international funds, including routing number 122043602 and SWIFT BIC PACBUS6L. Outgoing wires are initiated with a completed wire form at a branch. Useful when a Korea-corridor shop needs a named commercial bank for supplier payments alongside SBA and CRE files.

  Correspondent and FX costs still matter. For recurring family support to Korea, run the same send amount through a remittance comparator before defaulting to bank wires.

  PCB Bank Loan Resources / wire instructions →

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.

• 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.
• Woori America Bank — A Korea-parent FDIC bank (~$4B) for Korean American households and small businesses. Woori Bank name recognition, published Korea wire fees, and bilingual branches from Flushing to LA Koreatown corridors.
• Metro City Bank — Atlanta’s flagship Korean American commercial bank. About $4.5B after buying crosstown rival First IC, with Southeast weight, SBA/USDA desks, and a thinner California toehold.

Related send corridors

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