Arkadelphia’s Southern Bancorp Bank is expanding its Mississippi footprint with its 20th full-service branch in the Magnolia State.
The $2.5 billion-asset lender is setting up shop in Olive Branch in the former home of Sweet Peppers Deli at 5218 Goodman Road, Suite 101.
The bank, one of the nation’s largest community development financial institutions, entered the market with a loan production office in February 2018. Southern Bancorp is the only Arkansas lender among a dozen banks operating in the $1.38 billion-deposit market, a half-hour southeast of Memphis.
The five biggest shares of deposits there are held by Cadence Bank of Tupelo, Mississippi, $464 million (33.53%); Renasant Bank of Tupelo, Mississippi, $267.6 million (19.34%); Bankplus of Belzoni, Mississippi, $127.8 million (9.23%); Regions Bank of Birmingham, Alabama, $126.9 million (9.17%); and First Horizon Bank of Memphis, $96.9 (7.01%).
Throughout Mississippi, Southern Bancorp holds total deposits of $213.8 million (0.28%). That ranks No. 54 among 86 banks operating in the Magnolia State’s $76 billion-deposit market.
The only other Arkansas-based lender with offices in Mississippi is El Dorado’s First Financial Bank. The $1.6 billion-asset lender holds deposits of $251.5 million (0.33%) in Mississippi, which ranks No. 47.
Tennessee & Texas
Pine Bluff’s Simmons Bank is digging deeper into a $6.4 billion-deposit market in Tennessee. The $27.5 billion-asset lender is replacing a former Jack in the Box at 3000 Mallory Lane with its fourth full-service office in Franklin.
Simmons is the only Arkansas-based lender among 27 banks on the ground in Franklin, an affluent suburb a half-hour south of Nashville. The bank holds the 17th-largest deposit total in the market, $82.3 million (1.29%).
A pair of Nashville-headquartered lenders holds the two biggest slices of Franklin deposits: Firstbank, $1 billion (15.71%), and Pinnacle Bank, $896 million (14.06%).
Rounding out the top five are Bank of America in Charlotte, North Carolina, $615.5 million (9.65%); Regions Bank, $559 million (8.77%); and First Horizon Bank, $473.5 million (7.43%).
Simmons entered Franklin in February 2015 through the $243.4 million stock swap acquisition of First State Bank of Union City.
Nearly 500 miles to the west in Texas, Simmons is establishing a full-service branch in a former Ruby Tuesday’s at 4330 St. Michael Drive in Texarkana. The bank entered the $1.8 billion-deposit market in May 2023 with a loan production office.
Four other Arkansas-based lenders are in the competitive mix in Texarkana, Texas, where Magnolia’s Farmers Bank & Trust holds a market-leading $430 million share of deposits (24.13%).
Little Rock’s Bank OZK ranks No. 8 at $94.2 million (5.28%), followed by No. 11 Bodcaw Bank of Stamps (Lafayette County) at $43.5 million (2.44%) and No. 12 Murfreesboro’s Diamond Bank at $15.3 million (0.86%).
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