GBank Financial Holdings Inc. Pleased to Announce Partnership With i2c to Create Credit Card for Gamers and Sports Enthusiasts and New EVP/Card & Payments, David Fersdahl

GBank Financial Holdings Inc. (“GBank” or the “Company”) (OTCQX: GBFH), the parent company for Bank of George (the “Bank”), today announced its partnership with i2c Inc., a leading provider of digital payment and banking technology, to expand the Bank’s existing gaming payments ecosystem through a virtual and physical credit product.

“We are excited to grow our digital financial ecosystem via i2c’s proprietary “building block” platform to offer an enhanced payment experience for our customers, many of whom may be unfairly underserved when it comes to credit,” said Edward M. Nigro, Executive Chairman. “i2c has a reputation for unparalleled reliability and security, and an impressive track record for launching and supporting credit products, and we couldn’t think of a better partner to help us pursue this milestone.”

Powered by i2c’s agile payments platform, the Bank of George credit card will fill a need within an underserved, yet fast-growing, gaming and sports segment. The digitization of the U.S. gaming ecosystem is estimated to be a total addressable market (TAM) upwards of $400B.

The Company also announced today that the Bank’s credit card program development and Gaming FinTech Division will be directly overseen by David J. Fersdahl, who has been named EVP/Card & Payments. Mr. Fersdahl will continue to report to T. Ryan Sullivan, President/CEO.

With 25 years of credit card experience, David Fersdahl brings deep industry knowledge to his new role. Mr. Fersdahl previously led the Credit Risk function for USAA’s credit card portfolio, leading initiatives during his tenure to grow their portfolio from $5.5 billion to $16.1 billion. Mr. Fersdahl has directed strategies to grow credit portfolios and has managed card products covering all spectrums of the customer base, from secured cards to high-end rewards products. In 2013, Mr. Fersdahl was promoted to President of USAA Savings Bank in Las Vegas, Nevada. At that time, USAA Savings Bank was the largest state-chartered institution in Nevada, with total assets of $16.3 billion. Mr. Fersdahl led the conversion of USAA’s more than 14 million credit and debit card accounts from Mastercard to Visa.

Prior to joining USAA, Mr. Fersdahl gained his foundational credit risk experience at Chase Card Services, where he led the development of payment fraud strategies including the incorporation of checking account information from Primary Payment Systems, which was later renamed to Early Warning Systems (the owner of Zelle).

T. Ryan Sullivan, President/CEO for GBank and Bank of George, added “Dave brings extensive product and payment experience to his new role and we are incredibly excited about the addition of our new credit card product, and the powerful contribution it will make to our payment growth strategies.”

Prior to his new role as EVP/Card & Payments, Mr. Fersdahl joined Bank of George in April 2020 and served as its EVP/Chief Risk Officer.