Two Arkansas members of the public company club received recognition from Bank Director magazine for regional achievements.
Little Rock’s Bank OZK was given top nods for the South Region in three categories: Best Board, Best M&A Strategy and Best Technology Strategy.
Regarding the latter category Bank Director noted: “Its OZK Labs, which in July 2018 announced a partnership with Google around machine learning, was acquired through the bank’s acquisition of C1 Financial in 2016. Bank OZK launched a new online account-opening platform in 2018, too.”
Bank OZK tied for No. 1 regionally with South State Corp. of Columbia, South Carolina, in a fourth category: Best Core Deposit Strategy.
Conway’s Home BancShares Inc. was deemed to have the Best Small Business Strategy in the South. The trade publication reported “Home BancShares excelled for small business banking in the South, due in large part to a high level of small business loan growth (34 percent over two years). The bank offers online account opening for small-business deposit accounts and features a checking account tailored for troubled businesses ‘looking to re-establish a strong financial reputation.’”