In July, Independent Banker, the flagship publication of the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), released its “2021 Top Lenders” list. “Our top lenders made the most of one of the toughest years in recent memory through personal connection, ingenuity and dedication to their communities,” ICBA notes in a recent press release. The survey ranks the year’s most successful loan producers in the areas of agriculture, commercial and consumer/mortgage lending. Using FDIC data for 2020, Independent Banker calculated a lender score out of 100 for each community bank. The score combines the average of the bank’s percentile rank for lending concentration and for loan growth over the past year in each lending category. Each score was adjusted for loan charge-offs in each category at certain percentile thresholds.
“When I go to banking conferences, I feel like the odd duck out,” Erik Beguin, founder and CEO of Austin Capital Bank, told Independent Banker. “A lot of community banks are running the same business model, but I read the OCC [Office of the Comptroller of the Currency] list of permissible bank activities, and I figure out which ones no one else is doing and do those.”
Beguin’s background is in brand and product management, including a short stint branding antiperspirant at Procter & Gamble. Austin Capital Bank ranked No. 1 in the consumer and mortgage category (less than $500 million).
A number of Texas-based community banks made the list this year and are listed here next to their ranking in each category:
Agriculture—less than $500 million:
No. 18 First Capital Bank, Quanah
No. 19 The First National Bank of Hereford, Hereford
Agriculture—$500 million to $1 billion:
No. 11 The First State Bank Louise, Louise
Consumer and mortgage—less than $500 million:
No. 1 Austin Capital Bank SSB, Austin
No. 17 The City National Bank of Colorado City, Colorado City
Commercial—less than $500 million:
No. 8 The Mint National Bank, Kingwood
No. 9 One World Bank, Dallas
No. 11 CapTex Bank National Association, Trenton
Commercial—more than $1 billion:
No. 6 Wallis Bank, Wallis
Click here to read the entire list of “2021 Top Lenders” in Independent Banker.
