A new bank is preparing to enter Maumelle’s $376.6 million-deposit market. First Service Bank of Greenbrier is developing a full-service branch at 8901 White Oak Crossing.
The $595 million-asset lender is expected to start business in temporary quarters on the site during the fourth quarter while the permanent office is built for a 2024 opening.
“We’ve already got a lot of customers in Maumelle, and we want to be a part of that community,” said Tom Grumbles, chairman and CEO of First Service.
The arrival of First Service, with its massive American flag atop a 100-foot flagpole, will make it a party of six in Maumelle.
The bank will join Simmons Bank of Pine Bluff, $86 million in deposits (23.42%); Bank OZK of Little Rock, $82.1 million (22.33%); Regions Bank of Birmingham, Alabama, $80.4 million (21.87%); First Security Bank of Searcy, $67.9 million (18.46%); and U.S. Bank of Cincinnati, $51.2 million (13.92%).
First Service has undergone three name changes since its founding as First National Bank of Dermott in May 1962. After that came First State Bank in October 1976 followed by First Community Bank of Southeast Arkansas in January 1994.
First Service Bank was unveiled in April 1998 and the new name accompanied a geographic leap to central Arkansas and a headquarters relocation to Greenbrier. The move was backed by a $1 million stock offering that attracted 175 shareholders in Faulkner and Van Buren counties.
Benton Expansion
Less than 25 miles to the southwest, Arvest Bank of Fayetteville is working to establish its second branch in Benton. The $27.2 billion-asset lender has owned the site at the northwest corner of Highway 5 and Salem Road for nearly nine years.
Arvest bought the 0.93-acre location for $680,000 from Springdale’s Harps Foods, which operates a neighboring grocery store.
A check with Arvest reveals no details about the development timetable.
National Branch Stats
By the reckoning of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., more than 2,100 bank branches across the nation went dark during the 12 months ending June 30.
On the plus side, 977 new branches opened during that same time frame.
That seemingly simple branch math has a wrinkle, according to Bauer Financial Inc. of Coral Gables, Florida.
The bank and credit union research firm points out that the FDIC makes no distinction between new branches and acquired branches.
So mixed in with that new branch total are 84 former First Republic Bank offices.
On May 1, ownership of the failed bank’s branches along with more than $203 billion in assets shifted from the FDIC to the largest bank in the nation: JPMorgan Chase Bank of Columbus, Ohio.
The bulk of the San Francisco-based bank’s assets was acquired for $10.6 billion.
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