First Merchants Bank Selects Spiral to Power Personalized Savings and Community Giving Through Everyday Banking

First Merchants Bank adds Spiral to enhance financial wellness, helping customers grow their savings and support local nonprofits through personalized digital experiences and everyday debit card purchases.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Spiral, an award-winning platform redefining personalized banking, today announced a partnership with First Merchants Bank, one of the Midwest's premier community banks serving Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. The partnership will enable First Merchants Bank to strengthen its vision of enhancing the financial wellness of the diverse communities it serves by growing and retaining deposits at a low cost while delivering innovative, personalized digital experiences. With Spiral, customers can effortlessly save for their financial goals through everyday purchases and digital banking, while also supporting local nonprofits and community causes.

With the average personal savings rate still below 5%, many Americans continue to struggle to save for long-term goals or emergencies. Spiral's Savings Center will enable First Merchants customers to build savings automatically through personalized, gamified experiences, including Automatic Savings and progress tracking, that make saving rewarding and achievable. Customers can easily set and reach goals such as buying a home, starting a business, purchasing a car, or saving for travel, making it easier to grow savings through everyday banking.

Through this partnership, First Merchants Bank will also be able to transform everyday purchases into effortless savings and community impact. Customers will be empowered to automatically round up their everyday purchases and direct the spare change toward their savings goals or support their favorite charitable causes and nonprofits. Additionally, their new Giving Center will allow customers to donate directly from their banking accounts, create a personalized portfolio of causes, track their charitable impact, and receive donation reports for tax purposes.

"For more than 130 years, our purpose has been to help people build a stronger financial future," said Carrie Valek, Consumer Bank President at First Merchants Bank. "Spiral offers a simple, intuitive way for customers to grow savings, give back to their communities, and take another step forward in their financial wellness."

With Spiral, First Merchants Bank will drive digital donations to local nonprofits and attract nonprofit businesses through fundraising campaigns, donation matching, and community initiatives. This builds on the bank's long-standing focus on financial wellness and the diverse communities it serves. Spiral brings this into everyday banking, helping customers grow savings automatically while supporting the causes they care about.

"First Merchants has built its identity around helping people prosper, and that's exactly what Spiral is doing through digital banking," said Shawn Melamed, CEO and Founder of Spiral. "We're excited to help them improve their customers' lives while growing deposits and building stronger communities."

Spiral's turnkey solutions integrate with leading digital banking providers and core systems. To learn more about Spiral's platform, please contact Spiral here.

About Spiral

Headquartered in New York City, Spiral is an award-winning platform redefining how banks and credit unions grow deposits and retention through personalized banking experiences. Trusted by over 40 financial institutions nationwide, Spiral has saved millions for families and local communities, turning institutions into the primary choice for savings, cards, loans, and giving. With Spiral, financial institutions empower account holders to build savings automatically, achieve financial freedom, and support their communities through any banking account or debit card. Recognized as a Top 50 FinTech Company, Spiral makes it easy for financial institutions to drive local impact and empower millions of people to build better lives. Spiral is backed by Team8, Curql, ICBA, Euclidean Capital, Intuition Fund, Communitas Capital, Phoenix, Nidoco AB, MTVO, and more. To learn more, visit Spiral.us.

About First Merchants Bank

With approximately $21 billion in assets¹, First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ: FRME) is a registered bank holding company offering a full line of commercial and consumer banking services and wealth management services through First Merchants Bank and First Merchants Private Wealth Advisors in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. With more than 130 years of enhancing the financial wellness of the diverse communities it serves, First Merchants makes meaningful contributions through employee empowerment, philanthropy, charitable giving, financial wellness, and community home and business lending. The company has been honored for its attentive and knowledgeable service and culture by Forbes, Time Magazine, American Banker, and S&P Global Intelligence “Best Banks” awards. First Merchants attributes this recognition to a mission-driven team that is passionate about “helping you prosper” through attentiveness as its genuine and unique approach to customer service. To see how First Merchants is making a difference, go to https://www.firstmerchants.com/.
_¹ Includes the assets from the acquisition of First Saving Financial Group on February 1, 2026.