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First Security Bank
Banking businesses in the news for massive merging – or all-out collapse – may make it look like a bad time to bring out a new branch, but a Southeast Texas veteran of the banking industry is proving there’s no time like the present when you have a service that can’t be beat.
“Statistically, we wanted to make sure we have everything in order,” First Security Bank (FSB) Chairman and CEO Clint Walters said of seeing his dream come true to bring local community banking back to Southeast Texas. “I saw a need for a locally-owned community bank. The competitive landscape we have right now is a bank on almost every corner and they’re popping up all over the place.
“I want everyone to know what our vision is and what we’re trying to do. We are a truly locally-owned community bank – and that is our competitive advantage.”
FSB, 8350 Phelan Blvd., Suite A, in Beaumont, officially opened on Feb. 6, where First State Bank of Texas previously conducted business.
Walters said he was banking in Texas for a year without much public awareness, bringing the First Security Bank chartered in 1916 in Beaver, Oklahoma, to Beaumont after the bank was purchased by Community Capital Bancorp Inc., a holding company formed by Walters, his brothers Brent Walters and Aaron Walters, and Melissa Domingues.
“It’s going to take time for us to be visible and to get people talking about us,” Walters said, optimistic of the outcome ahead. “We have already done a great amount of business in the Southeast Texas area. We’ve been able to help a ton of small businesses in just a short period of time. Even though our doors were not open, we were still doing banking business.”
FSB, which has yet to advertise their existence and services, has scheduled a grand opening set for Wednesday, June 14.
Southeast Texan serving Southeast Texans
Walters, a 1999 graduate of HardinJefferson High School in Sour Lake, briefly left Texas in pursuit of higher education when he transferred to Arkansas Tech University in Russellville after admission to Mary Hardin-Baylor on a football scholarship, but made it back to Beaumont ASAP to attain a bachelor’s degree in business from Lamar University. After getting some more banking experience, Walters later earned a master’s degree in business management, as well as certification in Executive Leadership from the University of Virginia.
Years spent earning his degrees were also spent learning a career. Walters said he got into the banking business after transferring from Arkansas Tech to Lamar University, starting as a part-time teller with First Community Bank inside Walmart in 2001. For four years, Walters also taught commercial banking courses at Lamar as adjunct professor.
“I worked with (First Community Bank) for a little bit, then they got bought out by Texas State Bank and I worked my way up to assistant vice president and branch manager,” Walters said of his upward trajectory and drive to continue the trend.
Later, Compass Bank purchased Texas State Bank. After a short time, Mobiloil Credit Union contacted Walters about overseeing a new construction flagship branch planned on Major Drive.
“I didn’t know anything about credit unions,” Walters said – but he was willing to learn. In 2004, Walters started an 18-year tenure with Mobiloil CU.
“They were just a small credit union then,” he said. “I worked my way up to the executive vice president and chief officer of operation, and was second in command when I left.”
Walters left Mobiloil after he and his brother purchased Texas Regional Title in Beaumont.
“I went to work there but I knew what I wanted my end-game to be,” Walters said. “My dream was to own a local community bank.”
In 2019, Walters retired – sort of – and started researching how to start a bank.
“I told my brothers I’d like for us to start a bank, or buy a bank, and what we have to do,” Walters rehashed of the plan to bring FSB to life. “We all got together and said ‘OK.’”
From family to family
Twin brother Brent Walters, of Sour Lake, found success in the insurance industry and was the largest Allstate Insurance agent in the U.S with the Walters Agency. Today, as an independent insurance agent, and founder and CEO of NavSav Insurance, Brent is a formidable partner to have in his other half ’s entrepreneurial endeavor. NavSav has more than 72 locations in the U.S.
Older brother, Aaron Walters, is a managing partner for Ambric Engineering Automation; as well as the co-founder, chairman and CEO for Altar’d State, a women’s fashion retail chain with more than 300 locations nationwide. Big brother Aaron also brings to the partnership more than 19 years of experience in managing retail businesses, including Walgreens, Foley’s, Walmart, Goody’s and Hybrid Apparel.
Domingues serves as the president of FSB in Beaver, and also worked for Mobiloil Federal Credit Union in Beaumont for about four years as chief financial officer before joining the Walters brothers in this initiative. She is also the former CEO of Soladarity Community Federal Credit Union in Indiana.
The team secured, Walters just needed the perfect opportunity – which came during a trip to Austin to meet with Commissioner Charles G. Cooper of the Texas Department of Banking. Garnering support from both Cooper and Deputy Commissioner Wendy Rodriguez based on meeting all qualifications, Walters was then given a little piece of advice to go along BANK From page 1 Clint Walters lint Walters Business Journal • June 2023 | 5 with the approval of a new bank charter.
“(Cooper) told us, from a capital standpoint, we really should consider finding a bank to buy to get a foot into the door,” Walters recalled, pointing to the regulatory requirements on new banks being stricter than purchasing an established bank.
Walter said there are several reasons why a “true community bank” would sell, especially because 90% are familyowned.
“The grandfather is no longer wanting to do it; the next generation is not interested; the grandson has ran the bank in the ground and you have regulatory problems with it; or they think it’s worth more than it is,” Walters explained of a multitude of situations arising, which is by no means an exhaustive list.
In fact, Walters ultimately found the place that would house FSB when he received a call from a friend who conducts bank evaluations that set the future bank owner’s eyes on an offthe-market bank in Beaver, Oklahoma (population 1,500). The bank’s owners, who live in Weatherford, Texas, purchased the bank in 1986.
“It was a 13-hour drive from here,” Walters said of saddling up and making plans to make the road trip. Researching the bank, which started in 1916, while making attempt after attempt to contact the bank’s owner, Walters was glad to receive a return call about 3 p.m. one Tuesday while putting hay out for his cattle. A meeting was set up for the next day for 8 a.m. in Fort Worth.
“The process to purchase a bank is extremely long,” Walters noted. Three other interested parties were named as potential buyers, as well, but Walters won out on the deal due to the prior ownership’s desire to sell to another family-owned banking group. “The application was more than 400 pages, and there’s background checks and fingerprinting you have to go through. For the most part, we were able to handle everything and just a few things we had to get attorneys involved in. In the application, they knew our (intention) was coming to Texas.”
Application approved; the change of control went into effect Oct. 15, 2021, for FSB of Beaver, Oklahoma. According to Walters, the Oklahoma bank has a dozen employees who still offer a community bank to the place where FSB began. He noted his intent for buying a bank was not “get rich quickly scheme” but said he’s passionate about having a local owner.
“We want to be in the community,” Walters said of the business he has built as an affront to the “get rich quick” scheming of other startups and the lack of personal care given to clients. Walter noted some of his brothers bank with larger banks and, even with stellar credit, it could take up to a month to get a decision on a loan or banking matter. “Working for other banks in the community, I wanted to help people in the community.”
Walters said FSB purchased a corner property at the intersection of Folsom Drive and Major Drive for their flagship location and headquarters. In the future, FSB is looking to expand into nearby towns or cities.
“I want to be in the rural communities like Sour Lake, Vidor, Orange, Bridge City, Newton, Woodville and Kountze,” Walters said. “Those are the types of people I love banking with. I want to take care of our community and surrounding communities.”
Care, credit, community: ‘First’
Walters pulls on his experience with credit unions and community banks to form a hybrid for FSB clients, noting the difference between credit unions and community banks versus “banks” as chiefly a difference in being customer-driven servicing owned by its members versus a for-profit business chartered to make money.
“A community bank, in my opinion, has more expertise in business lending. We can offer the best of both worlds – a consumer product and a commercial product. I want to take the best out of both worlds,” Walters explained, detailing FSB as a “full-service, truly locally-owned and locally-operated community bank to serve Southeast Texas.”
FSB offers a wide range of services, from simple savings and checking accounting services, to money market account options, along with CDs in terms ranging from 3 to 60 months. The community bank also offers a full product line of loans, including loans to start or expand a business, CRE, C&I, equipment and secured and unsecured lines of credit.
“Each account comes with free online banking and checking accounts with free bill pay capability, featuring a person-to-person payment option where the other person can receive funds within minutes,” Walters added of bonus benefits, which also include the ability to deposit checks remotely via a mobile app, remote deposit capture via desktop for commercial customers, a money market special, and a 13-month Certificate of Deposit special.
“Banks are in the news with several big bank failures,” Walters admitted of “banking has gotten a black eye.” “There’s a lot going on but there is some opportunity there with frustrated customers.”
Walters said one advantage of being a locally-owned community bank is that FSB, which employs 12 people, can offer personalized service for checking and savings accounts, and individual and commercial loans.
“We can make a decision on a loan quicker for someone rather than them going through the process at a large corporate-owned bank,” he added of being only one of a few community banks left in existence. “When you bank with us, you become part of the First Security Bank family, and we do not take that lightly.
“Our new, locallyowned and operated Beaumont location is fully operational, so please stop by and let us see how we can serve all your financial needs.”
— Dannie Oliveaux