First Capital (FCAP) Risk Factors

The Bank relies on software developed by third party vendors to process various transactions. In some cases, we have contracted with third parties to run their proprietary software on our behalf. These systems include, but are not limited to, general ledger, payroll, employee benefits, and loan and deposit processing, and securities portfolio management. While we perform a review of controls instituted by the vendors over these programs in accordance with industry standards and perform our own testing of user controls, we must rely on the continued maintenance of these controls by the outside party, including safeguards over the security of customer data. In addition, we maintain backups of key processing output daily in the event of a failure on the part of any of these systems. Nonetheless, we may incur a temporary disruption in our ability to conduct our business or process our transactions or incur damage to our reputation if the third party vendor fails to adequately maintain internal controls or institute necessary changes to systems. Such disruption or breach of security may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

The Bank relies heavily on internal and outsourced digital technologies, communications, and information systems to conduct its business. As our reliance on technology systems increases, the potential risks of technology-related operation interruptions in our customer relationship management, general ledger, deposit, loan, or other systems or the occurrence of cyber incidents also increases. Cyber incidents can result from deliberate attacks or unintentional events including (i) gaining unauthorized access to digital systems for purposes of misappropriating assets or sensitive information, corrupting data, or causing operational disruptions; (ii) causing denial-of-service attacks on websites; or (iii) intelligence gathering and social engineering aimed at obtaining information. The occurrence of operational interruption, cyber incident, or a deficiency in the cyber security of our technology systems (internal or outsourced) could negatively impact our financial condition or results of operations. Information security risks have generally increased in recent years because of the proliferation of new technologies, the use of the Internet and telecommunications technologies to conduct financial and other transactions and the increased sophistication and activities of perpetrators of cyber-attacks and mobile phishing directed at our customers and our personnel. Mobile phishing, a means for identity thieves to obtain sensitive personal information through fraudulent e-mail, text or voice mail, is an emerging threat targeting the customers of financial entities. A failure in or breach of our operational or information security systems, or those of our third-party service providers, as a result of cyber-attacks or information security breaches or due to employee error, malfeasance or other disruptions could adversely affect our business, result in the disclosure or misuse of confidential or proprietary information, damage our reputation, increase our costs and/or cause losses. We have policies and procedures expressly designed to prevent or limit the effect of a failure, interruption, or security breach of our systems and maintain cyber security insurance. However, such policies, procedures, or insurance may prove insufficient to prevent, repel, or mitigate a cyber incident. Significant interruptions to our business from technology issues could result in expensive remediation efforts and distraction of management. Although we have not experienced any material losses related to a technology-related operational interruption or cyber-attack, there can be no assurance that such failures, interruptions, or security breaches will not occur in the future or, if they do occur, that the impact will not be substantial. The occurrence of any failures, interruptions, or security breaches of our technology systems could damage our reputation, result in a loss of customer business, result in the unauthorized release, gathering, monitoring, misuse, loss, or destruction of proprietary information, subject us to additional regulatory scrutiny, or expose us to civil litigation and possible financial liability, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, or stock price. As cyber threats continue to evolve, we may also be required to spend significant additional resources to continue to modify or enhance our protective measures or to investigate and remediate any information security vulnerabilities.

Our financial performance depends to a large extent on the business environment in our geographically concentrated five-county market area, the nearby suburban metropolitan Louisville market, the states of Indiana and Kentucky, and the U.S. as a whole. In particular, the local economic environment impacts the ability of borrowers to pay interest on and repay principal of outstanding loans as well as the value of collateral securing those loans. A favorable business environment is generally characterized by economic growth, low unemployment, efficient capital markets, low inflation, high business and investor confidence, strong business earnings, and other factors. Unfavorable or uncertain economic and market conditions can be caused by declines in economic growth, business activity, or investor or business confidence; limitations on the availability or increases in the cost of credit and capital; increases in inflation or interest rates; high unemployment; natural disasters; or a combination of these or other factors. Our financial results may also be negatively impacted by periods of increased inflation. Increased inflation can lead to decreases in the value of assets or reduced income from investments in the future as inflation decreases the value of money. Recently, there have been market indicators of a pronounced rise in inflation and the FRB has raised certain benchmark interest rates in an effort to combat inflation. As inflation increases and market interest rates rise, the value of our investment securities, particularly those with longer maturities, would decrease, although this effect can be less pronounced for floating rate instruments. In addition, inflation generally increases the cost of goods and services we use in our business operations, such as electricity and other utilities, which increases our noninterest expenses. Furthermore, our customers are also affected by inflation and the rising costs of goods and services used in their households and businesses, which could have a negative impact on their ability to repay their loans with us. Future economic conditions in our market will depend on factors outside of our control such as political and market conditions, broad trends in industry and finance, legislative and regulatory changes, changes in government, military and fiscal policies.

The Bank faces intense competition both in making loans and attracting deposits. This competition has made it more difficult for the Bank to make new loans and at times has forced the Bank to offer higher deposit rates. Price competition for loans and deposits might result in the Bank earning less on loans and paying more on deposits, which would reduce net interest income. Competition also makes it more difficult to grow loans and deposits. Some of the institutions with which the Bank competes have substantially greater resources and lending limits than the Bank has and they may operate in a wider geographic area than the Bank does. The Bank's competition may also offer services that the Bank does not provide. Future competition will likely increase because of legislative, regulatory and technological changes and the continuing trend of consolidation in the financial services industry. The Company's profitability depends upon the Bank's continued ability to compete successfully in its market area. We also compete with non-bank providers of financial services, such as brokerage firms, consumer finance companies, insurance companies and governmental organizations, which may offer more favorable terms. Some of our non-bank competitors are not subject to the same extensive regulations that govern our operations. As a result, such non-bank competitors may have advantages over us in providing certain products and services. This competition may reduce or limit our margins on banking services, reduce our market share and adversely affect our earnings and financial condition.