JPMorgan Chase Bank of Columbus, Ohio, changed plans about where to open its third full-service branch in northwest Arkansas. The $3.2 trillion-asset lender is now pursuing a Bentonville location instead of Rogers.
The nation’s largest bank abandoned plans for an office near the northeast corner of West Pauline Whitaker Parkway and South J.B. Hunt Drive in Rogers.
New location: Southeast corner of South Walton Boulevard and Redbud Street in Bentonville. JPMorgan intends to have the new office operational by October.
The bank’s second full-service branch in northwest Arkansas remains a work in progress. The office at the southwest corner of West Sunset Avenue and South Gutensohn Road in Springdale should be complete by August.
JPMorgan entered the $17 billion-deposit Benton-Washington County market earlier this year with a branch at 608 W. Dickson St. in Fayetteville.
The biggest bank in America established a physical presence in Arkansas in July 2021 with a west Little Rock branch at 12900 Chenal Parkway, the first of five branches in the $22 billion-deposit Pulaski County market.
Sterling Strategy
Sterling Bank of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, is accelerating the development of its Arkansas branch network. The $1.3 billion-asset lender has acquired property in Bentonville and Little Rock since the March opening of its full-service branch at 1101 S. 52nd St. in Rogers.
Development of the sites would double the number of Sterling Bank locations in Arkansas. The bank made its first foray from its southeast Missouri base to the state in October 2020 with a Fayetteville office and last year migrated to a built-from-scratch branch at 3453 N. Steele Blvd.
Texarkana Entry
Pine Bluff’s Simmons Bank is making a move to enter a new Texas market.
The $27 billion-asset lender intends to join the party in Texarkana, where 13 competing banks are on the ground.
Simmons intends to set up shop in Suite A at 5411 Plaza Drive, about 2 miles west of State Line Avenue. The project represents Arkansas bank No. 5 to operate in the $1.7 billion-deposit market.
Simmons will be joining Farmers Bank & Trust of Magnolia, Bank OZK of Little Rock, Bodcaw Bank of Stamps and Diamond Bank of Murfreesboro.
At last count, Simmons operates 25 locations in 18 Lone Star State markets. Of those offices, 23 are full-service.
Convenience Bank
Speaking of Texas, the 11th First Convenience Bank-bannered branch is on the drawing board for Arkansas. Killeen’s First National Bank Texas intends to set up an office at 2700 S. Shackleford Road in west Little Rock.
As with all its other Arkansas locations, the space is in a Walmart Supercenter.
The Arkansas rollout of First Convenience branches began in October 2019 with Texarkana, Fayetteville (2875 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.), Cabot, Searcy and Jonesboro (1815 E. Highland Drive). Siloam Springs and Jacksonville joined the list in February 2020.
The remaining four opened in North Little Rock (4450 E. McCain Blvd.) and Little Rock (8801 Baseline Road) in October 2020 and in Benton and Bryant in November 2021.