Merchants Bonding Joins SuretyBind, Lending a Century of Surety Expertise to a Push for Modernization
July 13, 2026
Backing a clearinghouse designed to bring needed modernization, speed, and ease of doing business to the surety market
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Merchants Bonding Company™ announces its membership with SuretyBind as the initial associate member of the new technology company, owned by leading members of the industry, signaling its commitment to help shape a modernized, more connected surety market.
Surety has run on long-standing methods for generations. For decades, brokers, carriers, and obligees have been working independently, and SuretyBind looks to support the next step in modernization for the surety industry. Bridging a common framework will help everyone conduct business faster and with more ease serving our ultimate customers, the American people.
As an associate member, Merchants Bonding will serve in an advisory capacity, bringing its experience as a recognized leader in surety technology to help guide product direction and broker-to-carrier connectivity, and ensuring SuretyBind serves the surety industry rather than external interests.
“Surety has been Merchants Bonding’s pursuit for more than 90 years, and the responsibility we feel for it doesn't end at our own walls. When I first heard what SuretyBind was setting out to do, it was clear this was the kind of work the industry has needed for a long time and the kind of work no single company should try to do alone. I wanted Merchants involved early, to lend what we've learned and help make sure this is built well, built fairly, and built to last. When the industry wins, we win.”
— Larry Taylor, Chairman of the Board & President, Merchants Bonding Company
SuretyBind's near-term focus is digitizing the broker-to-surety connection: eliminating duplicate data entry; expediting submission, quoting, and bond issuance; reducing rekeying errors; and capturing premium leakage that occurs in today's fragmented workflows. Without a bi-directional clearinghouse model, every surety would need to build and maintain point-to-point integrations with every broker, and every broker with every surety. SuretyBind's single integration point lets brokers reach multiple carriers and lets carriers reach more of the market without rebuilding the plumbing each time.
Merchants Bonding encourages additional carriers to consider joining SuretyBind as associate members. The more voices from the industry at the table, the more durable and useful the platform becomes for everyone it serves including carriers, brokers, and eventually the obligees who rely on the guarantees the surety industry provides every day.
Companies interested in working with SuretyBind are encouraged to reach out at info@suretybind.com.
All SuretyBind activities are conducted under strict antitrust supervision.
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About Merchants Bonding Company
Founded in 1933 and headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa, Merchants Bonding Company is a national leader in surety, with more than 90 years of experience underwriting contract and commercial surety bonds. Family-led across generations, Merchants has long invested in the technology, relationships, and underwriting expertise that move surety forward and remains committed to strengthening the industry as a whole.
About SuretyBind
SuretyBind is a technology company founded by four surety carriers to modernize and digitize long-standing inefficiencies in the surety market. SuretyBind provides connective frameworks between brokers and surety carriers to remove duplicate entry and ease of doing business.
Media Contacts
Melíssa Harden — Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Merchants Bonding Company
Lizzie Kolkowski — Senior Director at SuretyBind