Wintrust Wins Better Business Bureau of Chicago 2021 Torch Award for Ethics

Award Recognizes Marketplace Trust, Banking Excellence and Commitment to Integrity

ROSEMONT, Ill, Dec. 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wintrust Financial Corporation has been named a winner of the 2021 Torch Award for Ethics by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) of Chicago and Northern Illinois in recognition of its fair, honest, and ethical business practices.

The BBB’s Torch Award celebrates companies that demonstrate outstanding integrity, ethics, and overall marketplace excellence. Given to just nine businesses in the Chicago metro area in 2021, Wintrust was selected as the sole winner in the “Large Company” category by a panel of independent reviewers who assessed applicants according to four categories: character, culture, customer and community.

“The Torch Award is the most prestigious award the BBB can present to a business," said Steve J. Bernas, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois. "Torch Award winners demonstrate the highest ethical standards and trust with customers, business partners, shareholders and the communities in which they do business. Being a recipient of this award indicates the company not only believes in the high standards promoted by the BBB, but consistently demonstrates and integrates them into daily business practices." 

Wintrust was chosen as recipient of this year’s Torch Award for exemplifying what a values-driven organization can and should look like. Through the choices made and actions taken by each employee in service of Chicagoland’s communities, moment by moment and day by day, Wintrust puts its commitment to relationship-centric banking in action. Further, Wintrust’s efforts during one of the toughest stretches in our collective history supported customers with financial care when it mattered most. BBB judges called out the company’s fierce commitment to community service, long-standing investment to the places where its customers work and live, and consistency in choosing to do what’s right as integral to its winning credentials.

“It’s an honor to be recognized by the Better Business Bureau as a leader in business ethics in the greater Chicago community,” said Edward J. Wehmer, Founder and CEO of Wintrust. “Because our work is so collaborative, trust is essential to our ability to deliver results on behalf of our customers and business partners. As we enter into our 30^th year as a company, we’re as committed to serving the communities in which we operate as we were from the beginning, and this award proves it. This recognition was made possible by the dedication and commitment of our entire team to leading by example and staying true to our mission and values in everything they do.”

About Wintrust  
Wintrust is a financial holding company with assets of approximately $48 billion whose common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol WTFC. Built on the "HAVE IT ALL" model, Wintrust offers sophisticated technology and resources of a large bank while focusing on providing service-based community banking to each and every customer. Wintrust operates fifteen community bank subsidiaries, with over 170 banking locations located in the greater Chicago and southern Wisconsin market areas. Additionally, Wintrust operates various non-bank business units including business units which provide commercial and life insurance premium financing in the United States, a premium finance company operating in Canada, a company providing short-term accounts receivable financing and value-added out-sourced administrative services to the temporary staffing services industry, a business unit engaging primarily in the origination and purchase of residential mortgages for sale into the secondary market throughout the United States, and companies providing wealth management services and qualified intermediary services for tax-deferred exchanges. 

MEDIA CONTACT: 
Edward J. Wehmer, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Wintrust Financial Corporation
David A. Dykstra, Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer, Wintrust Financial Corporation
(847) 939-9000
Website address: www.wintrust.com