While banks across the nation continue to rebound, an Owensboro-based bank, with four Warren County locations, has been ranked among the best in the nation.

Independence Bank was the eighth top-performing bank in its class nationwide, according to recent ratings by the American Bankers Association.

The bank, with 19 locations throughout western Kentucky and 28 employees in Bowling Green, was in the category of community banks with assets between $100 million and $3 billion. Two years ago, Independence Bank’s ranking was around 2,000. It jumped the next year to No. 11 and is up three spots this year.

The association rates the banks’ overall performance. Reviewers look at a combination of factors to determine the earnings each bank generated from the money customers invested last year.

The bank’s assets increased 8 percent in 2009 to nearly $945 million by June 30. Deposits also increased by about 13 percent to about $79.7 million by June 30, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

“We kept things basic,” said Brad Howard, executive vice president of the southern region. “We stayed out of the larger credit (markets) that other institutions got into … we stayed in areas we had expertise in.”

Bank officials attributed its jump in ratings to their concentration on the local market – the bank generally lends to local homeowners, small businesses and farmers.

Over the past couple of years, the bank has built a strong, safe loan portfolio, said Bob Fitch, president of Independence’s Warren County locations.

“That enables us to do so many other things in the growth of the bank,” he said.

So far this year, deposits are around $98 million – a jump from last year’s deposits. In fact, several Bowling Green banks are on an upswing as deposits increased last year compared to the year before.

According to the most recent FDIC report, by June 30, 2009, Bowling Green banks had $125 million more in deposits than the previous year.

Still, regulators have placed more stringent rules on lending that can make it more difficult to secure a loan. Some lending guidelines have changed and some programs, such as 100 percent financing on some loans, have been cut, “which is out of our control,” Howard said.

But despite those changes, the bank handed out $100 million in home loans last year – a record for the bank. Low mortgage rates coupled with homebuyer tax credits and an improving economy have fueled that increase in home lending, officials said.

“Are we back to the levels we were in 2005? No,” Howard said. “But we’re seeing improvement.”

Locally, the economy has remained somewhat stable compared with other cities across the nation. Bowling Green is continuing to make strides in economic development, despite a recession and the recent, national financial downfall, Howard said.

Also, Bowling Green’s location along Interstate 65, big employers, such as The Medical Center and Western Kentucky University, and local tourism hot spots have helped the area thrive, he said.

“We just have the ingredients – we have the amenities of a much bigger city here,” Howard said.