2024 Annual Report

Strategic Priorities

Each year Merchants Bonding Company carefully selects strategic priorities to support the needs of our agent partners and associates, both the immediate and the long-term. Below are the five priorities we invested in across 2024.

1. Underwriting Automation

Merchants actively seeks out ways to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and improve accuracy. Automation achieves all three. With underwriting as a key focus, the company identified tasks and processes prime for automation, then created and implemented solutions.

Opportunity	Outcome
Provide greater scalability and efficiency in bond processing workloads	Streamlined Workflows Through Automation Implemented automation to streamline and/or eliminate thousands of bond processing tasks resulting in increased efficiency and capacity 36% of tasks associated with endorsements and cancellations automated in 2024, an increase of 20 percentage points over the same measure in 2023
Maximize the value of Merchants’ rich available data	Automated Capture and Analysis of Data Leveraged technology to automatically perform data capture for improved efficiency Automated targeted analytic functions to provide deeper insights for more informed data-driven decisions
Capitalize on bonding needs associated with national housing demand	Developed RAP for Subdivision Extended existing automated capabilities with functions tailored to a specific market

2. The Hub Express

To better serve agents in the transactional commercial bond space, Merchants designed, built, and launched the Hub Express—an innovative and powerful new platform. With a simple shareable link, agents can connect clients directly to the Hub Express, giving them the power to select, purchase, and issue the bonds they need, when they need them.

3. Agents & Agency Staff Information Management

Regulatory compliance in the surety industry requires diligent tracking of the information associated with agent licensing and appointment. When our existing system no longer met our needs, we identified a better solution and successfully migrated to a new platform to enhance efficiency and compliance.

4. Personalization for Agents & Agency Staff

To strengthen connections with our valued agent partners and their staff, we introduced a personalization strategy that expands rewards from an agency-level focus to include recognition of individuals for their engagement. The centerpiece of this initiative is Merchants Market, where participants receive rewards for specific activities. The platform provides a flexible, immediate, and seamless way to redeem rewards for a wide range of products and services.

5. Associate Retention & Training

To empower associates, and maintain a strong, knowledgeable, engaged workforce, we implemented an enhanced retention and training strategy. Following a sustained focus on hiring and onboarding, we invested heavily in professional development opportunities, and creating a positive workplace culture to keep top talent motivated and committed to Merchants. High retention rates foster stability, improve customer relationships, and reduce the costs and disruptions associated with turnover.

• 8.4 hours training per associate annually
• 19 inter-departmental training courses created
• 160 new competencies defined for 62 unique positions
• 8 leadership courses presented

Inaugural She Leads Summit

She Leads Summit Photo Gallery

Culture

Merchants Bonding Company prides itself on a one-of-a-kind culture built on the following values:

• We value excellence, integrity, and continuous improvement in all that we do.
• We value an inclusive culture that inspires us to explore new ideas.
• We value surpassing expectations by delivering a first class experience.
• We value a positive and collaborative workplace through trust, loyalty, and respect.
• We develop potential through learning, involvement, and the pursuit of opportunities.
• We value balancing the needs of the company, our associates, and their families.
• We support our communities.
• We celebrate and have fun!

Awards and Recognitions

Our strength, innovation, and commitment to long-term success—along with our dedication to a thriving workplace driven by flexible schedules, comprehensive benefits, and community giving—have earned us the following recognitions and repeat designations:

Associate Survey

Perhaps the most meaningful recognition though, comes from Merchants’ own associates.

More than 96% of our associates surveyed say:

• People here are treated fairly regardless of race or sexual orientation.
• People celebrate special events here.
• When you join the company, you are made to feel welcome.
• I feel good about the ways we contribute to the community.

Associates

Photo Gallery

In 2024 Merchants said yes to continuous improvement, driving our positive results as a business, as an employer, and as leaders in the surety industry.