Two Oklahoma banks, Fort Sill National Bank and Firstar Bank of Sallisaw, established footholds in Arkansas during the year that ended June 30, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s annual summary of deposits.
Firstar, with $431.5 million in assets as of June 30, established its first and only Arkansas branch at 4300 Rogers Ave. in Fort Smith last December and had amassed deposits of $6.75 million there by the end of June. The bank, which was branded First National Bank of Sallisaw from 1964 until July 2012, has seven other branches, all in Oklahoma.
Fort Sill National Bank, meanwhile, opened four branches in Arkansas — all inside Wal-Mart Supercenters — between May and October.
The two that were opened in time for the June 30 summary of deposits were in Conway and Russellville. Another opened in the Benton Wal-Mart on Sept. 4, and the most recent opened in Wal-Mart in Pine Bluff on Oct. 2.
Chartered in 1946 as a military bank, FSNB — that’s how it’s branded — had just under $400 million in assets as of June 30, but it has 81 branch offices stretching from California to the Carolinas. Similarly sized Arkansas banks — like One Bank & Trust of Little Rock, Relyance Bank of Pine Bluff and Integrity First Bank of Mountain Home — have eight to 10 branches.
Fort Sill National Bank reported collecting more than $50 million in service charges on deposit accounts in 2012 and $24.4 million in the first half of 2012. Integrity First Bank, by comparison, collected about $1.7 million in service charges last year and only $4.2 million in all forms of non-interest income.
Fort Sill National Bank earned $8.68 million in 2012 and had posted net income of $3.68 million in the first two quarters of 2013.
James Cerrone, vice president of retail for Fort Sill National Bank, told Arkansas Business that the Wal-Mart branches generally require eight to nine employees, mainly tellers, and that loans are made over the telephone with the main office.
The bank has no immediate plans to open any more Arkansas branches, he said.
Sign up for Daily E-news
![Arkansas Tech University seniors Mandy Hughes and Cogan Hester have navigated college without student loans. [Daniel Moody]](https://arkansasbusiness.wppcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/DHM_1421_opt-150x150.jpg)
![Northark President Rick Massengale with a map of all campuses affiliated with the University of Arkansas System. [PHOTO provided]](https://arkansasbusiness.wppcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Rick_Massengale_opt-150x150.jpg)
