Gateway Colonial Savings Acquisition: Timing

The Gateway Colonial Savings acquisition remained pending as of September 18, 2026. Gateway First Bank’s September 17 announcement projected a first-quarter 2027 close, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. It did not establish a mortgage-system conversion date.

Borrowers also need to distinguish this bank deal from Colonial’s earlier mortgage-business changes. In its May 25, 2023 announcement, Colonial said it would stop originating mortgages effective July 31, 2023, while continuing banking and servicing. A past Colonial mortgage relationship therefore does not establish an active application with the bank.

What Gateway agreed to acquire

The agreement covers Colonial Savings, F.A., with six locations across greater Fort Worth. Gateway’s release did not name the approving agencies, set an exact closing date or detail the remaining conditions. It said customer and operational transition information would follow as integration planning advanced.

For originators and referral partners discussing lender ownership and origination developments, acquisition completion and operational conversion are separate planning milestones. The projected ownership change does not tell an individual customer when to use a different portal or contact.

Colonial’s servicing transfers preceded the bank deal

Colonial had also sold its mortgage servicing portfolio before Gateway’s announcement. In an October 30, 2025 report by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Colonial spokesperson Graham Ashley attributed the company’s restructuring to that sale.

Colonial’s own dated business responses published by the Better Business Bureau document earlier transfers:

• In a March 5, 2026 response, Colonial said one account’s servicing had transferred effective December 2, 2025.
• In an April 20, 2026 response, Colonial identified February 2, 2026 as another account’s transfer date.

These company statements establish that individual borrowers experienced servicing changes months before the bank acquisition was announced. They do not provide a complete portfolio transfer calendar or identify a transfer date or destination that applies to every former Colonial borrower.

Borrowers whose servicing already moved should follow their current servicer’s verified instructions. The pending acquisition does not establish that Gateway will inherit every mortgage once serviced by Colonial, or that an earlier transfer should be reversed.

What the announcement means for an application

The September release does not establish that Colonial resumed mortgage origination. It identifies no active mortgage application channel or funding handoff and does not establish revised mortgage pricing.

If you have a live application with Gateway or another lender, start with the lender named on your current documents. Ask whether the transaction affects your file, and request written confirmation before changing a closing plan. This advice applies to an identifiable current application; the acquisition announcement itself does not establish a Colonial mortgage pipeline.

Referral partners should verify the actual lender and contact before telling a buyer that their financing will move. Colonial’s historical role in originating an existing mortgage does not answer who would handle a new purchase or refinance.

Does the announcement change mortgage payments?

The announcement is not an instruction to redirect payments. For mortgage servicing, use the latest verified statement and account-specific notices. Confirm conflicting instructions through an established contact before changing payment arrangements.

Under Regulation X, section 1024.33, a servicing transfer does not change mortgage terms except those directly related to servicing. Certain transfers resulting from mergers or acquisitions of servicers or subservicers are excluded from transfer-notice requirements when the payee, payment delivery address, account number and payment amount all remain unchanged.

For transfers requiring notice, the notice identifies the effective date, payment acceptance dates and servicer contacts. The CFPB’s servicing-transfer guidance, reviewed April 3, 2024, recommends updating bank bill-pay instructions when necessary and checking that payments are credited correctly. Ask separately whether servicer-initiated automatic withdrawals require action.

Borrowers with a pending payment-assistance request should keep copies of submissions and confirm with their current servicer who is handling it. Do not wait for the bank deal to close before following up.