First Northern Bank (OTCQB: FNRN) announced today its membership in Alloy Labs Alliance, a consortium of innovative community banks working together to drive innovation and change for community banking. First Northern Bank is the only member bank from California.

Included in this announcement is the partnership Alloy Labs Alliance has created with Payrailz to create the open payments network, CHUCK^TM. The CHUCK^TM network will accommodate multiple technology partners and transaction types that will enable community banks to offer more options to their customers, many of whom wish to send money to people using accounts at other banks.

Alloy Labs Alliance chose Payrailz, a digital payments company, as their partner in launching this new payment network. CHUCK^TM provides a holistic approach to delivering personalized payments for consumers and businesses in a differentiated, cost-effective way. With the introduction of CHUCK^TM community banks will now have a choice when it comes to providing instant payment capabilities and no longer must settle for more expensive, restrictive, and closed networks.

Louise Walker, President & CEO of First Northern Bank, stated, “Being a part of Alloy Labs Alliance has been a game changer for First Northern Bank. CHUCK^TM is an innovative approach to peer-to-peer (P2P) payments and allows community banks to strongly compete within the digital payments space. This open-payments network is the first of many innovative applications on the Alloy Labs Alliance roadmap that will give community banks a solid leg up in the digital environment that has quickly become a preferred delivery channel for day-to-day financial transactions. First Northern Bank looks forward to its launch of CHUCK^TM in the first quarter of 2022. The members of Alloy Labs Alliance are committed to dispelling the myth that community banks can’t be cutting edge.”

Alloy Labs Alliance community bank members:

American State Bank, Sioux Center, IA

Capital City Bank, Tallahassee, FL

Chesapeake Bank, Kilmarnock, VA

Citizens & Northern Bank, Wellsboro, PA

First Financial Bank, Cincinnati, OH

First Northern Bank, Dixon, CA

Mercantile Bank of Michigan, Grand Rapids, MI

Reading Co-Operative Bank, Reading, MA

Savers Co-Operative Bank, Southbridge, MA

South State Bank, Winter Haven, FL

About First Northern Bank

First Northern Bank is an independent community bank that specializes in relationship banking. The Bank, headquartered in Solano County since 1910, serves Solano, Yolo, Sacramento, Placer and Contra Costa Counties, as well as the west slope of El Dorado County. Experts are available in small-business, commercial, real estate and agribusiness lending, as well as mortgage loans. The Bank is an SBA Preferred Lender. Non-FDIC insured Investment and Brokerage Services are available at every branch location, including Dixon, Davis, West Sacramento, Fairfield, Vacaville, Winters, Woodland, Sacramento, Roseville, Auburn and Rancho Cordova. The Bank also has a commercial lending office in Walnut Creek. Real estate mortgage and small-business loan officers are available by appointment in any of the Bank’s 11 branches. First Northern is rated as a Veribanc “Blue Ribbon” Bank and a “5-Star Superior” Bank by Bauer Financial for the earnings period ended September 30, 2021. For more information, visit thatsmybank.com.

About Alloy Labs Alliance

Alloy Labs Alliance is a member-driven, shared innovation lab that helps banks innovate effectively and efficiently to reduce risks, lower costs, and shorten the time between ideas and results. Alloy Labs leverages the network effects of more than 40 institutions working together to share information, develop proprietary insights, develop partnerships and benchmark return on investment. Alloy Labs also operates The Concept Lab, a reverse accelerator that helps banks cement relationships with startups accepted into the program, and a Strategic Investment Group that invest in startup partners. For more information, visit alloylabs.com.

About Payrailz^®

Payrailz is a digital payments company offering advanced payment capabilities and experiences including consumer and business bill pay, external and internal transfers, new account funding, P2P, B2B, and B2C and other related solutions to banks and credit unions. Payrailz creates smarter payment experiences for the financial services industry that are predictive and more engaging than currently available alternatives. Financial institutions can confidently embrace Payrailz API-first and cloud-native technology engine, to offer unique payment solutions to their consumers and businesses. Payrailz helps financial institutions meet the payment expectation of today and the payment innovation needs of tomorrow. For more information, visit payrailz.com.

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