“Can a community bank become a trusted sponsor bank and fintech infrastructure partner while maintaining its SBA and SMB lending core?”
Stearns Bank N.A. is a chartered national bank headquartered in St. Cloud, Minnesota, operating as both a direct lender to small businesses (including as an SBA Preferred Lender) and as a sponsor bank powering fintech and embedded finance programs. The bank has leaned into BaaS and fintech sponsorship by partnering with Lithic for card issuing infrastructure and with Sardine for compliance and fraud oversight of its sponsored programs, positioning itself as a community bank with a fintech-forward infrastructure layer.
Stearns's cards are issued through Lithic.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 2 layers in Stearns's stack: Card issuing (Lithic); Lending (Small business loan (up to $50,000), SBA preferred lender loans, Working capital loans and Equipment financing).
Stearns is headquartered in St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA.
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Stearns and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.