Dumas Bank Borrows $9M For Growth

Merchants & Farmers Bank in Dumas

The holding company of Merchants & Farmers Bank in Dumas boosted its capital through a $9 million subordinated debt offering in August.

M&F Financial Corp. set a minimum buy-in for outside investors at $250,000 for its first-ever debt offering. In advance of the deal, total equity capital at Merchants & Farmers tallied $19.8 million at the end of the second quarter.

“We are doing so well in Saline County that we wanted some extra [capital] to take advantage of our growth opportunities,” said Ashton Adcock, chairman and CEO of the bank. “We’re kind of exploding at the seams. We’re up $30 million [in loan volume] from last year, which is huge for a bank our size.”

Outside of southeast Arkansas, the $200 million-asset lender has focused its growth plans on Saline County through full-service offices in Bryant, opened in July 2016, and Benton, opened in October 2021.

Supported by a staff of 40, the bank recorded an $851,000 profit through the first six months of operations this year. In 2021, net income totaled $787,000 as of June 30.

Merchants & Farmers produced an annual profit of more than $1.7 million during 2021.

Nine to Eight

The roster of Arkansas banks operating under a federal charter is getting sliced again.

Relyance Bank of White Hall intends to convert to a state-chartered bank. The move will pare the list of national banks headquartered in Arkansas to eight.

Six years ago, the Arkansas field of national banks numbered 22.

All numbers as of June 30. (Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.)

Once completed, the $1.1 billion-asset lender will undergo a regulatory shift from the Office of the Comp-troller of the Currency to the Arkansas State Bank Department. Founded in 1965 as Pine Bluff National Bank, the Relyance name was unveiled in 2013.

Berryville’s Bank of 1889, formerly known as First National Bank of North Arkansas, changed its name as part of its federal-to-state charter change earlier this summer.

Before that, the last charter conversion in Arkansas occurred in June 2019 when Fidelity National Bank in West Memphis became Fidelity Bank.

Chase in NWA

JPMorgan Chase Bank of Columbus, Ohio, is pursuing its second northwest Arkansas office with a Rogers location. The $3.3 trillion-asset lender has its eyes set on developing a full-service branch near the northeast corner of West Pauline Whitaker Parkway and South J.B. Hunt Drive.

Remodeling work should be complete before year’s end for the bank’s first full-service branch in the region at 608 W. Dickson St. in Fayetteville.

The leased 3,142-SF building was most recently home to Gearhead Outfitters, which was preceded by its long-time resident: Mr. Tux.

The property is remembered as the would-be site of a six-story, 65,143-SF condo-heavy, mixed-use development promoted by Collins Haynes back in 2006.

Haynes and his partners, Aaron and Christie Osborne, purchased the location for $980,000 two years before the real estate bubble burst. The property was resold for $795,000 in 2014.

Since opening its first Arkansas branch at 12900 Chenal Parkway in west Little Rock in July 2021, Chase has added three more offices in Little Rock and one in North Little Rock.

Chase also has plans for a third northwest Arkansas location, whereabouts undisclosed for now.