CANFIELD, Ohio – With an expanded and younger client base, Farmers National Bank is upgrading its digital system.

“We wanted to be able to offer newer digital experiences,” Michael Matuszak, senior executive vice president and COO, said about Farmers’ decision-making process that began about two years ago. 

“We’d already moved into Cleveland at the time and had recently just moved into the Pittsburgh area, and you have a larger concentration of younger folks there who are used to a high-quality digital experience when doing banking,” he said.

Matuszak said the changes are intended to ensure Farmers continues to meet and exceed expectations as it expands into new markets, including Columbus. 

Customers will continue to have access to the services Matuszak said they have come to expect, including online bill pay. Farmers customers can set up recurring online payments to specific vendors. While customers also will have access to Zelle, Matuszak said upgrades include a new way to make payments.

“We’re going to offer a new person-to-person payment functionality that we think is a little bit cleaner, neater and faster than Zelle,” Matuszak said. 

Additionally, customers will be able to access their savings and checking accounts and manage consumer loans and mortgages all on the same platform. 

“So instead of downloading a separate app for your mortgage loan and things like that, you’ll have it all underneath one umbrella,” Matuszak said.

Menus also will be cleaner and easier to navigate, he said. “I’m pretty sure people will get used to it pretty quickly.”

The security will be improved as well, he said. Farmers contracted with a firm to create a core banking platform, capable of integrating additional security and fraud prevention features.

After determining that upgrades were needed, Farmers began seeking requests for proposals more than a year ago. The bank narrowed five major software vendors to three before selecting one, evaluating each based on the features and benefits it could offer customers, as well as the strength of the vendor itself. 

While some of the largest banks across the country spend billions to design the latest software upgrades, Matuszak said Farmers is a “fast follower.” When those same digital functions become available through major software vendors, sometimes as soon as months later, Farmers considers adopting them without passing on the costs of developing the software to its customers.

Detailed planning began shortly after the announcement that Farmers was merging with Middlefield Bank in October, Matuszak said. By the end of the first quarter of 2026, they began integrating and testing the new system.

The move to the new core platform is scheduled to take place the weekend of Aug. 20. Customers will need to upload a new app for their digital banking. Their user name will remain the same, but a password change will be required.

“Most of the other things that they normally deal with will be imported over,” Matuszak said. “So once they log in for the first time, they’ll be able to see their account balances and all the rest.”

While integrating Middlefield Bank at the same time presented a challenge, Matuszak said both Farmers and Middlefield were already looking to upgrade their systems when the merger process began. 

“So they were very excited,” Matuszak said of Middlefield’s personnel. “And now that we’re all one team, everyone is excited to move to the new platform and get off the old one. And I think the customers will notice.”

This won’t be the last changes and improvements customers will see. Matuszak said more features and integrations are still in the works for customers in the months to come.

Amber Wallace-Soukenik, senior executive vice president and chief retail and marketing officer at Farmers National Bank, said customers are not the only ones who will experience a new digital upgrade. The system that bank employees use as they help customers in the branches is getting an upgrade too. 

The new system will include behind-the-scenes software upgrades, as well as a new platform for tellers, the lending team and other bank employees. 

Wallace-Soukenik said that as tellers are going through training on the new software, feedback about the improvements have been positive.

Matuszak said the upgrades should create a more “streamlined workflow” and help enhance the speed of service and experience for customers.

Pictured at top: Michael Matuszak, senior executive vice president and COO at Farmers National Bank.