Legend Bank, Bowie | Bank Culture
The New Definition of Legend
One of Legend Bank’s most important priorities for 2022 was to set a clear definition of who we are, who we want to be, and what makes us legendary to our employees, our shareholders, our customers, and our communities.
The process of developing our new Mission, Vision and Values came from within our organization and was all-inclusive. We conducted an all-employee survey and then brought together focus groups involving the Board of Directors, executives, management, and employees at various levels. Together we revisited and reformulated our mission, developed a vision statement to guide us towards that mission, and created values so that our employees would understand how to fulfill the defined vision and mission. We’ve incorporated our “New Definition of Legend” into all that we do, reinforcing its importance in helping us make legendary decisions to enrich the lives of our stakeholders.
Texas Bank and Trust, Longview | Financial Literacy
Student Board - A Legacy of Leadership
For more than 45 years, Texas Bank and Trust has strived to be the leader in financial literacy and money management education in each of the markets it serves. That quest began in the fall of 1977 when TBT launched its first and most enduring financial literacy program — the Student Board of Directors (SBOD). Twelve graduating seniors from two Longview high schools were invited that year to participate in a unique program designed to introduce students to essential money management skills at a critical point in their lives. In the time since, more than 3,100 high school seniors, now representing 13 East Texas area high schools, have served on the TBT Student Board. The 2022-2023 school year marked the 45th anniversary of the Student Board program. To celebrate the occasion, TBT selected one of the largest number of students to go through the program; released its first-ever full length documentary on the program’s history; and brought back its first money management curriculum for students — the popular $100,000 stock game. Texas Bank and Trust’s entry in the 2023 Best of Community Banking Awards highlights the SBOD program’s success - both past and present.
Texas Regional Bank, Harlingen | Architectural Design
Texas Community Architecture and Design at Its Best
At Texas Regional Bank, we have developed an architectural design plan that blends our commitment to honoring Texas history with our dedication to investing in the communities across our four regions: The Rio Grande Valley, The Hill Country, Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. This collaboration involves the participation of our founders, shareholders, executive leadership, and employees, all united by a vision of delivering a state-of-the-art customer experience as our paramount goal.
The time, dedication, and decision-making that go into the appearance of our banking centers are just as important as the business being conducted within. Construction materials include natural limestone and a unique brick from Colima, Mexico.
Our lobbies and offices are adorned with photos depicting historical moments in each region. It is common for a customer to recognize a familiar face or landmark in the pictures. As we are the people you know in the communities we serve, our architecture serves as an agent for cultivating relationships. From our first build in Harlingen, TX, to the subsequent 28 locations and those to come, the architectural design at Texas Regional Bank is one of our most valuable assets.
Veritex Community Bank, Dallas | Community Service
Vocational Training Program
Veritex provides financial education to Northwest Assistance Ministries’ (NAM) students as par of NAM’s Vocational Training Program. NAM’s Learning & Vocational Training Center provides adult educational offerings to empower our neighbors to seek new job opportunities and achieve financial independence. It helps adults gain the necessary skills to chart a career path that will lead to financial stability.
Citizens National Bank, Cameron | Architectural Design
New Round Rock Location
CNB had decided to build a new branch in the downtown area, which was already bustling with a variety of historic buildings. Our President and CEO, Steven Wise is a native Central Texan and history buff. Wise had a vision of incorporating a hybrid design with a nod to the Downtown Business District. He wanted the new construction to complement the nearby historical buildings while also standing out as a modern and functional financial center.
First Bank Texas, Willow Park | Community Service
Community Partners Program
The Community Partners Program focuses on giving back to causes and neighbors within the community because we believe a need identified is a need met. First Bank Texas has supported over 50 different organizations in the past year alone, with a fundamental principle of offering a hand up, not a handout—resulting in over $1.1 million donated in 2022.
First Liberty Bank, Liberty | Community Service
FLB Gives Back Through Education!
Big bank ability with small bank agility–that's FLB. With our local banking evolving and expanding for the past 109 years, our local communities have played a huge impact on our success of expansion. FLB is passionate about our local organizations, school districts, sports programs, military, local businesses and others less fortunate. We observe what goes on in our local and surrounding communities to see how we can help be of service not just for financial needs, but for needs of others. FLB directors, managers, and employees have a strong commitment to our communities. We are proud to be advocates in the community and thoroughly believe that our success is measured by our community and customers.
First National Bank Texas, Killeen | Financial Literacy
Community Engagement in Financial Literacy
In 2022, First National Bank Texas (FNBT) continued their efforts to conduct financial literacy education classes and programs to empower building the community’s financial well-being. The bank equipped its employees with the necessary tools, training, and resources to deliver financial literacy to address the financial health needs of the community.
Underserved communities remained the forefront of First National Bank’s financial literacy focus. In partnership with Banzai, FNBT donated a total of $32,333.32 toward financial education curriculum in LMI schools in 2022.
First National Bank, Wichita Falls | Marketing
Consumer Protection Marketing Campaign
In early 2022, First National Bank branches in Wise County reported an uptick in customers reporting scams. As a community service and to raise awareness for our customers, we began our months long “Scam Alert” series. The informative series was developed to educate our customers and the public about on-going, current, and new scams so they can better protect themselves from falling prey to hackers and scammers.
Legend Bank, Bowie | Marketing
The Scammer Who Almost Stole Christmas
The Legend Bank Christmas video tradition continued in 2022 with The Scammer Who Almost Stole Christmas. When we started brainstorming on the concept for the video, we recalled discussions we had with our Loss Prevention Specialists about social media puppy scams being a top scam impacting our customers. We decided that by doing our Christmas video about this scam we could tie-in real-life, relatable situations to educate our customers while doing so in a creative, fun way.
Texas Regional Bank, Harlingen | Innovation
Independence and Safety & Soundness
At Texas Regional Bank (TRB), we continue to invest in our own Information Technology (IT) as we move toward a more independent future. From an innovation standpoint, we are leading the way in Independence and Safety & Soundness, two of the bank’s strategic pillars.
One of our initiatives includes bringing technology in-house: building our own software and supporting our own infrastructure. We are no longer exposed to the environments of our vendors, nor do we rely on vendor priorities and timelines. We create opportunities to follow product road maps and delivery expectations that are custom-tailored for TRB. Our software and technology costs become an investment in our technological future rather than a never-ending stream of renewed expenses.
In addition to becoming more technologically autonomous, we are in the final phases of creating an audit-ready, compliance-first cloud on Amazon Web Services, which will be the centerpiece of TRB’s technology footprint. We are beginning to deploy the first pieces of functionality that reduce friction for our customers and provide operational efficiencies.
As we transform IT from a traditional cost center into an opportunity center, our goals, and initiatives help drive and support the future success of Texas Regional Bank.
Veritex Community Bank, Dallas | Marketing
Women in Business
A networking program engaging like-minded women in business through a marketing strategy, social media, email marketing, and TV interviews with a goal of creating an approachable networking opportunity for Veritex Community Bankers while extending the Veritex brand of truth, transparency, and trust. Women in business was created to address how entrepreneurial women network and manage their careers while taking care of their family and finding balance with work. The solution was to create an atmosphere that was approachable, safe, and social. “Make friends first, and the business will follow.”
First Liberty Bank, Liberty | Innovation
Modern Banking with FLB
The objective is that the customers have additional access to their accounts rather than an ATM offers and having staff available through extended hours. Another benefit with the Interactive Teller Machine (ITM) model is the safety of our staff. It creates a safe and secure environment for processing basic transactions; which are the most common. The teller is removed physically from cash and there are available options for customers wanting to use a text option on the screen or the handset feature.
Ozona Bank, Ozona | Financial Literacy
Community Involvement, Stewardship, and Giving Back to our Communities
Ozona Bank is deeply invested in serving our community that we have called home for 118 years by partnering with other organizations, small businesses, and individuals to strengthen our community. Ozona supports the school system and its students in many capacities. One way of giving back is by enriching the students’ lives by partnering with Banzai Financial Education program to offer financial literacy programs in the schools in Ozona, Texas. For many years, officers and staff of the Bank have gone into the school with presentations related to financial literacy and since 2018, have partnered with Banzai to offer more standardized materials online for the educators. We recognized the need and developed a plan to find a solution to help educate and empower our students when it comes to financial education.
The Bank’s marketing manager, Daina S. Slover, and the local public librarian, Jennifer Holmsley, had a telephone meeting regarding a wish list and goals the library wanted to accomplish for the area residents. The decision was made to offer free GED and ESL courses in Ozona. This was the spark that initiated the partnership between the library, Ozona Bank, and Howard College to make the goal come true. The bank advertises the program in the local newspaper and on social media, and provides notebooks, pens, and bottled water for the courses. Also, the branch manager attends the Orientation and introduces herself, talks about the bank and how proud we are to support this program. Both programs have truly become a community effort. We emphasize personal partnerships with community leaders to identify special needs in our community and we work hard to find solutions to those needs to order to strengthen our community. Ozona Bank is truly a community bank.
Texas Bank, Henderson (Prosper Branch) | Community Service
Neighbors Nourishing Neighbors (N3) Food Pantry
Texas Bank’s mission states that “We are dedicated to delivering personalized financial services and exceptional customer satisfaction by meeting the needs of individuals, businesses, and organizations of the hometowns we serve.” One of those hometowns Texas Bank serves lies just about 30 miles North of Dallas in the town of Prosper, Texas.
We recognize that part of ‘meeting the needs of individuals in the hometowns we serve’ goes beyond simply offering financial services. Our Prosper Branch location stepped up in a huge way leading up to the 2022 Holiday Season when we partnered with Neighbors Nourishing Neighbors out of Prosper Texas and raised $8,500 in food and cash in less than 3 weeks. All collected funds were used to purchase healthy nutritious non-perishable foods for those in need throughout the Prosper area and helped serve 170+ families!
Texas National Bank, Mercedes (Ruben Torres Branch) | Architectural Design
Brownsville Branch Opening
With a rich history spanning over 100 years, Texas National Bank (TNB) has built a legacy of delivering exceptional customer service and meeting the needs of its community. During its long tenure of operations, TNB has witnessed tough economic cycles and navigated through turbulent times; yet, has emerged stronger and more resilient each time. Today, TNB aims to expand its legacy of excellence into a rapidly growing community to serve the needs of the people who call this place home. TNB’s legacy continues with the grand opening of its iconic waterfront branch located right next to the resaca in Brownsville, TX. We have created a one-of-a-kind facility that not only serves as a banking hub for the community but also serves as a visually stunning landmark that showcases our commitment to providing exceptional service.
Wellington State Bank, Wellington | Community Service
Beans for Jeans
For several years, the fourteen branches of Wellington State Bank would join together for a canned food drive around Thanksgiving. In 2022, the team decided to make it a little more interesting and released a campaign called Beans for Jeans. For the entire month of November, if Wellington State Bank employees wanted to wear jeans for the day, they were to bring a can of beans (or other canned good or food item) for donation.
Our customers loved the fun atmosphere this created and would come in daily to see who was wearing jeans and who donated. We even had customers that would match donations or bring in pallets of food as well.
Wellington State Bank, Wellington | Financial Literacy
Dragon Spirit Bank
Dragon Spirit Bank was created in 1999 by First National Bank of Paducah (who later merged with Wellington State Bank) to help the local youth of Paducah ISD learn about banking and develop an understanding of the need to save. Originally, the Gifted and Talented Class acted as the tellers for this project to encourage financial careers, but with current scheduling and other conflicts, we elected to keep the project alive by sending two of our own tellers weekly to take the deposits.
The motto of Dragon Spirit Bank, which is proudly displayed on our teller station at the school is “Learning to Save, Saving to Learn.” We strive to teach the importance of financial literacy, even at a young age, and encourage them to use this knowledge as they get older. We discuss how to save money, teach them ways to save, give examples of what they could use their money for if they did save, and why it’s important. We also discuss basic knowledge about how bank accounts work. Our kids stay engaged and ask questions, and at the end of the year, they’re eager to keep up their savings habits through the summer.
FirstBank Southwest, Amarillo | Bank Culture
Feeling Better Starts With Us
Faith. Family. Bank. are the words that drive our culture. FirstBank Southwest understands that you cannot have Bank without Family…this is where the Feeling Better Starts with Us program first began. We wanted to develop a wellbeing program to support our Family in all facets of their life. Thus, the Feeling Better Starts with Us program was created and focuses on three fundamental areas: Mental Health, Physical Health, and Financial Health. Not only is this a wellbeing program, but a program that has become a catalyst to create change.
Texas Partners Bank, San Antonio | Marketing
Purpose, Power, and Partnership: The Relentless Pursuit of Relationships
What’s changed in 2023? With the unknowns in today’s business and financial environment, the need to tell a better story is mission-critical. At Texas Partners Bank, whose bank members include The Bank of San Antonio, The Bank of Austin, and Texas Hill Country Bank, our values are the lens we use to see everything in creating and executing our marketing strategy.
As a coalition of growth-minded and mission-driven teammates, we cultivate an innovative approach to marketing that includes storytelling, curated events, podcasts, educational programs, and more, resulting in new and strengthened relationships for the bank, which often results in new clients, and increased deposits and loans.
TransPecos Banks, San Antonio | Bank Culture
The TransPecos Banks Internship
The TransPecos Banks Internship is dedicated to developing a diverse pipeline of future talent for our business and communities. Our goal is to offer a best-in-class program where interns want to return.Interns are assigned to top managers or placed on project teams working on key initiatives. They are considered for subsequent internships or an employment offer at the conclusion of their assignment(s).
Veritex Community Bank, Dallas | Innovation
Veritex TrueAccess
Customer driven solutions, seamless business management, and support for real-time decision making for business owners.
Vista Bank, Dallas | Bank Culture
Vista Xperience
Vista Xperience, also known as VX, is a client experience program whose purpose is to create an elite team member experience like no other - where Vista Bank invests in the culture for our team members by providing an excellent environment which begins with our motto, “People First”. To be one of the few, elite businesses that are moving to a “business of experience” we realize this movement starts from within, so the elite experience permeates to our clients. At the heart of a great organization must be a strong culture all team members believe in, so the Vista Xperience program is committed to making the best culture that everyone associated with Vista will reap the benefits of, team members and shareholders alike.
Vista Bank, Dallas | Financial Literacy
How to Fish
Our mission at Vista is to empower our team members to serve our clients with integrity, respect, and loyalty. Simultaneously, we at Vista strive to strengthen and empower the communities we serve, teaching them “how to fish” and providing access to a “quality pond.” This provides the means to create significant positive socioeconomic transformations to our communities and its members, cultivating local economic development and generational wealth in the process. Through our financial literacy education “Leadership Academy” program and partnerships with multiple community organizations and leaders, we believe helping local communities achieve “bankability” will create sustainable economic development and generational wealth for LMI communities and its members.