Better Health for All

HBT Financial's core banking services are generally health-neutral. The company provides comprehensive health benefits to its employees, including medical, dental, vision, critical illness, accident, and hospital indemnity insurance, as well as an Employee Assistance Program.

It also offers wellness incentives for preventive screenings and free diabetes and weight management programs for employees. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the bank offered loan deferrals, waived fees, and originated 971 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans totaling $169.8 million in its assessment area and 1,501 PPP loans totaling $336.1 million statewide. It also staffed PPP Resource Centers. The bank provided $84,167 in 13 grants to a nonprofit organization focused on improving the health and well-being of underserved and low-to-moderate income (LMI) families. It also provided a $500,000 Line of Credit and a $407,650 PPP loan to a nonprofit serving older LMI adults. The Heartland Bank Community Foundation (HBCF) has donated $350,000 since its founding, supporting programs for early childhood and adolescent development, family strengthening, and hunger relief, including St. Vincent Prep Academy which offers integrated mental health support. Heartland Bank works with individuals with less-than-perfect credit, those needing down payment assistance, and those with ITIN status, and expanded its Home Matters program to include ITIN borrowers. A bank employee provided 75 hours of board service to a nonprofit serving individuals with developmental disabilities and special healthcare needs. The bank offers financial literacy programs to students and adults, covering topics like budgeting and saving.

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

No specific, concrete data points were found in the provided articles to assess HBT Financial, Inc. against any of the KPIs for Fair Pay & Worker Respect. Information regarding living wage coverage, CEO-to-median-employee pay ratio, collective bargaining share, safety incident rate, pay equity ratio, worker engagement score, turnover rate, labor violation incidents, insecure contract share, or health insurance coverage for HBT.US was not explicitly stated.

While executive compensation was mentioned, median employee compensation for HBT.US was not provided, preventing the calculation of the CEO-to-median-employee pay ratio.

Honest & Fair Business

HBT Financial has a documented whistleblower policy, approved in October 2022, which encourages confidential and anonymous submissions, protects against retaliation, and outlines reporting procedures to various officers and the Audit Committee.

The Audit Committee establishes investigation procedures. The company has had no financial restatements in the past five years. The board consists of nine directors, with five identified as independent, resulting in approximately 55.5% independent directors. The company has an anti-corruption policy that prohibits offering or accepting anything of value to influence business, as per the Bank Bribery Act, and has a clawback policy for compensation in cases of fraud or unethical behavior. However, the policy lacks specific details on training frequency or effectiveness metrics.

Kind to Animals

HBT Financial, Inc. is a bank holding company providing financial services, and its core business model does not involve products requiring cruelty-free certification, animal testing, or animal-derived ingredients. The company is listed as having "No Animal Exploitation."

While its Agricultural Services department manages farms and acres, this is a service and does not constitute direct animal agriculture operations or animal husbandry under the company's control. There is no evidence of direct impact on wildlife habitats from its core business, nor specific conservation initiatives with measurable biodiversity impact. One board member serves as President of the Board of Directors at TAILS Humane Society, an organization focused on companion animals, but this is an external affiliation and not a company initiative.

Planet-Friendly Business

Heartland, a subsidiary of HBT Financial, reduced its absolute gross operational emissions by 42% from a FY2019 baseline of 1,157 tCO₂e, resulting in current emissions of approximately 671 tCO₂e.

The company has set new science-aligned emissions targets to further lower its operational footprint by FY2030, but these are not explicitly stated as SBTi-validated. Heartland committed to using only Certified Renewable Electricity in New Zealand from April 2021, but this applies to a specific region and not the entire operational energy consumption. The company conducted scenario analysis to explore climate-related risks and opportunities and strengthened its capability to assess and manage these risks, including incorporating climate considerations into credit risk and lending practices for larger customers. However, the company's TCFD alignment is only described as strengthening capabilities, not full adoption. In 2025, 60% of 25 assessed suppliers were measuring their emissions and had emission reduction targets, while 32% had transition plans. Heartland employees volunteered at the Matuku Link Reserve, a wetland restoration project, but the scale of this effort in relation to total land holdings is not specified beyond being a small restoration pilot.

Respect for Cultures & Communities

The company's employees partnered with 44 organizations, and served on committees and boards for 27 organizations, indicating a high level of formal engagement with local community groups.

No cultural appropriation incidents have been reported. An integrity hotline was launched in 2022, and a Customer Complaints Unit received 2,872 complaints, but the coverage of formal grievance mechanisms across operational sites for community concerns is not specified. In 2023, over $200,000 was contributed to various local charities and initiatives, including educational programs and financial literacy workshops, but the percentage of revenue donated to cultural heritage organizations is not specified. Larry Horvath, a bank employee, serves on the loan committee for the largest community development corporation in the state, but there is no specific community representation on governance bodies. Regular training sessions on ethical standards for all employees have been implemented, but the percentage completing cultural sensitivity training is not specified. The proportion of procurement spending directed to local suppliers is not available for HBT.US.

Safe & Smart Tech

Heartland Bank, a subsidiary of HBT.US, experienced a data security incident in February 2025, involving unauthorized access to its email system.

This incident compromised sensitive consumer data, including names and Social Security numbers. The bank filed a notice of this data breach with the Massachusetts Attorney General on February 7, 2025. No specific fines or violations related to this incident were mentioned in the provided articles.

Zero Waste & Sustainable Products

No relevant data for HBT.US regarding Zero Waste & Sustainable Products could be extracted from the provided articles. pertains to Housing Bank for Trade and Finance (HBTF) in Jordan, which is a distinct entity from HBT Financial, Inc.

discusses Heartland Group's sustainability efforts, specifically mentioning operations in New Zealand, which does not align with HBT Financial, Inc.'s subsidiary, Heartland Bank and Trust Company, located in Illinois. explicitly states that no relevant data was found for the requested metrics.