Federal savings association aims to open in city|[06/25/08]

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, June 25, 2008

A Texas-based federal savings association has announced plans to open in 2009 in Vicksburg its first Mississippi branch. It also will be the first such financial institution for the local area.

Woodforest Bank is accepting comments to an intent notice filed with the federal Office of Thrift Supervision, the arm of the U.S. Department of Treasury overseeing federal savings associations, to establish the area’s first federal savings association at Wal-Mart SuperCenter, 2150 Iowa Blvd.

Officials at Wal-Mart’s Bentonville, Ark.-based real estate division said the project is set for a 2009 construction date, but were unable to confirm whether it would be inside the store or elsewhere on the property.

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Federal savings associations must apply to OTS to establish a branch or hub location. Once limited to accepting deposits and making home mortgage loans, they are not banks. Since enactment of the Financial Institutions Reform Recovery and Enforcement Act in 1989, they have been regulated by OTS. Conversely, national banks are regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of Currency.

Woodforest National Bank was founded in 1980 and operates branches in Texas, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. In a 2007 study of retail banks by J.D. Power and Associates, Woodforest ranked highest in customer satisfaction in a six-state region in the Southwest.

The association was formed upon Woodforest Financial Group’s purchase of Olympic Savings, a Refugio, Texas-based state bank in April 2007. It was renamed Woodforest Bank and converted into a federal savings bank. Twelve branches operate in Alabama, Kentucky, New York, South Carolina and Texas, with 49 planned to open by the end of this year.

Woodforest has 3,600 employes worldwide, and just less than $2.5 billion in assets, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Woodforest’s locations are known for staying open 364 days a year, excluding only Christmas, and deposit times as late as 8 p.m., though operating hours for the proposed Vicksburg branch have not been announced. Many branches are in Wal-Mart, Kroger and Sam’s Club stores because of high foot traffic.

Comments on the proposed Vicksburg branch may be submitted by July 25 to Frederick R. Casteel, Regional Director, Office of Thrift Supervision, 225 East John Carpenter Freeway, Ste. 500, Irving, TX 75062-2326. All comments must address the regulatory basis for denying the application according to federal law.

Banks operating in Vicksburg include Trustmark Bank, Regions Bank, BancorpSouth, Britton & Koontz Bank, Guaranty Bank & Trust, RiverHills Bank and Liberty Bank & Trust.