Pineland Bank began as Alma Exchange Bank & Trust and was chartered on September 13, 1939 in Alma GA when directors Valene Bennett, Nathan Cohen, M E Jones, John Mullis and J F Ramsey received permission to convert Alma Exchange Credit Union to a state chartered financial institution.
Alma Exchange Credit Union had been organized in 1930, when eight incorporators invested $5.00 each to establish an organization for the purpose of making change and cashing checks. This was the first credit union in
the region.
In 1981, South Banking Company was organized as a multi-bank holding company and acquired 100% of the outstanding stock of Alma Exchange Bank & Trust, and Citizens State Bank.
In 1990, South Banking Company acquired 100% of the outstanding stock of Peoples State Bank & Trust, Baxley, Georgia. Early in 1996, South Banking Company acquired 100% of the shares of Pineland State Bank, Metter, Georgia.
South Banking Company has grown over the years to reach an asset size of roughly $450 million. There has been a lot of hard work to get the bank from its original investment of $40 to its current size. In 2016 the parent company decided to merge the subsidiaries into a single bank, Pineland Bank. The footprint of the newly formed bank is in southeast Georgia and Northeast Florida. Pineland Bank has 9 locations, 7 of which are full service branches.