IBC Bank is Growing Community Roots

Bill Schonacher, president of IBC Bank’s Tulsa/Green Country Region, believes Northeast Oklahoma is a great place to grow a bank franchise, and the reasons he cites are many.

“The future of the region is undoubtedly bright. It is our goal to be the bank most conducive to growth by offering an exemplary set of products and services,” says Schonacher.

Being convenient to customers is a major component of IBC’s strategy for growth or as Schonacher likes to put it, “Being where our customers need us to be.”

The IBC Bank franchise was chartered in 1966 deep in the heart of South Texas in Laredo. Spreading north along the interstate corridor of I-35, IBC established a presence in southern tier Texas cities such as Austin, San Antonio, Brownsville, McAllen and Houston. Following the industrial growth along I-35, spawned primarily by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), proved to be a successful growth strategy.

Small to medium manufacturing, warehousing, transportation and related industries continue to flourish along this increasingly busy north-to-south route. This in turn feeds the trend toward economic diversity in market cities along the way and provides the IBC franchise with fertile ground for aggressive growth.

In 2004 an opportunity arose that enabled IBC to cross the border into Oklahoma. The purchase of 51 branch locations belonging to Local Oklahoma Bank gave IBC an immediate presence throughout the state. A sizable investment followed to upgrade many of the locations to meet IBC standards. Subsequently, new locations have opened, elevating IBC to 55 locations across the state. The entry into Oklahoma and Tulsa was the logical extension of the I-35 strategy and brought the total assets of the franchise to approximately $9.3 billion. IBC currently has $10.5 billion in assets.

According to Schonacher, the presence of brick and mortar in a community isn’t a guarantee of market acceptance. “For us to be truly successful we must infuse ourselves into the community on a personal level. Just putting your logo on a building doesn’t get it done.”

Successfully connecting to the community begins with IBC’s local hiring policy. The banks are staffed primarily by Oklahomans living in the communities served by the bank.

Schonacher is proud of the track record of community service logged by IBC staff. Over the last 12 months, approximately 16,000 hours of volunteer time has been provided to the state of Oklahoma by bank personnel at all levels. This corporate culture of community involvement starts at the top. Schonacher sits on various boards and committees including the Jenks Public School Foundation board, Junior Achievement of Eastern Oklahoma board and the Tulsa Chamber Economic Development Committee. He is also the finance division chair for the 2006 Tulsa Area United Way Fundraising Campaign. The emphasis for all the bank’s employees is to get involved in the community in ways that are mutually rewarding.

“Finally we have to provide a set of very competitive products and services covering a vast range of needs for both retail and commercial customers,” points out Schonacher. “We offer free checking with overdraft courtesy. We are agile when it comes to commercial loans, and all loan decisions are made locally—not at some faraway corporate headquarters.”

In addition to his love of northeast Oklahoma, Schonacher has high praise for the Tulsa area banking community. “Tulsans are very fortunate to have so many fine banking options in a market this size. We are proud to be a part of this very competitive market. It really keeps us on our toes to be the best we can be.”

After years in the business, Schonacher is reluctant to speculate on what the future holds. The experiences of the tumultuous banking consolidation days of the 1980s when bank signage seemed to change weekly taught him how cyclic the banking industry can be.

According to him, there will continue to be periods of change, including growth and consolidation because “Banking consolidations create niches in the market for small upstart banks to fill, get a foothold and grow until they become either buyers or sellers.” Nevertheless, he is excited about the future of the region and IBC’s place in it.

“Regarding the future, one thing is certain. We are here to stay and serve the Tulsa area communities we are honored to be a part of,” says Schonacher.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.