OTTAWA SAVINGS BANK ANNOUNCES FILING OF APPLICATION TO CONVERT TO AN ILLINOIS-CHARTERED COMMERCIAL BANK AND CHANGE NAME TO “OSB COMMUNITY BANK”

        OTTAWA, Ill., May 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ottawa Bancorp, Inc. (the “Company”) (OTCQX: OTTW), the holding company for Ottawa Savings Bank, FSB (the “Bank”), today announced that the Bank has submitted an application to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to convert its charter from a federally-chartered savings bank to an Illinois-chartered commercial bank.

        Craig Hepner, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ottawa Bancorp, Inc., commented, “Ottawa Savings Bank has had considerable success as a federally chartered savings bank. Our Board of Directors has determined, however, that converting to an Illinois-chartered commercial bank best positions the Bank to compete in the markets we serve and to further execute our business strategy. The conversion will position us to increase our commercial loan portfolio, and we believe that the well-qualified lending team that we have assembled over the last several years is well-positioned to help us execute this strategy. From our customers’ perspective, we will be better able to serve their expanding lending needs which reflect the evolving profile of the communities we serve. While increasing our operational flexibility, the conversion will not affect the terms and conditions of our customers’ deposit accounts or loans. The added advantage of converting to an Illinois-state chartered bank is that we expect to reduce the expense of annual regulatory overnight, as it is less expensive to operate as an Illinois-chartered institution than it is to be regulated by the OCC.” Mr. Hepner continued, “We are also excited to announce that consistent with these anticipated changes to our charter, and to better reflect the breadth of the communities we serve, we plan to change the name “Ottawa Savings Bank” to “OSB Community Bank” in connection the charter conversion. We are very proud of our Ottawa Savings Bank heritage. While we feel that the next chapter of the Bank’s history should operate under a moniker that reflects the broadening communities we serve, we want to maintain a linkage to our heritage. We will make every effort to make the next 150 years of the Bank’s life, operating as OSB Community Bank, even more successful than our first 150 years of operation.”