Upon Retirement, Martin Reflects on Frontier Bank of Texas’ Path to Success

In 2006, Elaine Martin was working for the Elgin Bank of Texas when five Central Texas entrepreneurial partners approached her about writing a charter for a new bank. “I’ve worked with and around banks most of my life,” Martin recalls thinking. “How hard can it be?” Over the ensuing months, the answer to that question … Read more

Texas Banking Commissioner Approves De Novo Charter for Texas Traditions Bank

On April 29, Texas Banking Commissioner Charles G. Cooper announced the approval of Texas Traditions Bank in Katy—the first de novo state bank charter since September 2019. The bank is anticipated to serve customers primarily in Fort Bend County and portions of Harris and Waller counties. Subject to the granting of deposit insurance by the … Read more

Will Varo Bank be the Pin that Pops the Fintech Valuation Bubble?

Every banker has read the sensational headlines of massive funding rounds at almost unfathomable valuations for almost any company with a fintech moniker. They also know the narrative; bankers are greedy and dumb, credit unions are slow and can’t innovate, and morally superior (here again) fintechs are here to disrupt the trillion-dollar financial services industry, … Read more

While You Were Taking Care of Your Customers

For more than a year, community bankers have been hard at work saving the nation’s small businesses via the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The effort has been nothing short of heroic—and, from what I am hearing, PPP didn’t just provide short-term income for community banks in 2020; the relationships earned with new customers in the … Read more

Agility Bank Receives Conditional Approval to Launch in Houston

On October 20, Houston-based Agility Bank (in organization) announced that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. have given conditional approval for its application to launch and operate a predominately digital community bank that is primarily owned and led by women. Agility Bank will begin raising $30 million in … Read more