Note 1 - Description of Business

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

Notes to Financial Statements

Nature of Operations [Text Block]

1. DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS

First US Bancshares, Inc. (“Bancshares

”) and its wholly-owned subsidiary, First US Bank (the “Bank”), provide commercial banking services to customers through

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banking offices located in Birmingham, Bucksville, Butler, Calera, Centreville, Columbiana, Gilbertown, Grove Hill, Harpersville, Jackson, Thomasville, Tuscaloosa and Woodstock, Alabama; Knoxville and Powell, Tennessee; and Rose Hill and Ewing, Virginia. Both Bancshares and the Bank are headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.

The Bank owns all of the stock of Acceptance Loan Company, Inc. (“

ALC”), an Alabama corporation.

ALC is a finance company headquartered in Mobile, Alabama that performs both indirect lending through

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-party retailers and conventional consumer finance lending through a branch network. ALC conducts indirect lending in

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states, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, with loans underwritten centrally at ALC’s headquarters location. ALC’s branch network serves customers through

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offices located in Alabama and southeast Mississippi. The Bank serves as the primary funding source for ALC’s operations. In recent years, ALC’s indirect lending portfolio has grown at a more rapid pace than conventional consumer finance lending. In general, the credit quality of indirect lending exceeds the credit quality of conventional consumer finance lending, with a commensurate reduction in yield.

The Bank also owns all of the stock of FUSB Reinsurance, Inc. (“FUSB Reinsurance”), an Arizona corporation. FUSB Reinsurance is an insurance company that underwrites credit life and accidental death insurance related to loans written by the Bank and ALC.