The Bank of San Antonio Offers Big-Bank Services With a Small-Bank Touch

BS&T: What is The Bank of San Antonio's market niche?

Given: Our sweet spot is middle-market businesses with between $5 million and $25 million in revenue. That's a huge and growing market in the San Antonio area. All we want is a little piece of that market.

One of the businesses we've been especially successful with is the medical industry. We handle both the private banking of the doctors as well as the practices themselves. Another market that we've been successful in is residential and commercial real estate firms.

BS&T: One of The Bank of San Antonio's strengths is its treasury management services. As a de novo bank, how did you leapfrog other banks in these offerings?

Given: Loans are loans -- but treasury management is where you can really make a difference. I knew that we needed a strong offering to compete against the big banks. We raised a lot of capital when we started the bank; our niche is business banking, and we needed capital to fund robust treasury management as well as to fund the large loans that our business customers require.

BS&T: Can you describe the treasury management offerings? Why are they important to the bank's strategy?

Given: We offer a full suite of products and services to meet the needs of our middle-market clients for automated processes and streamlined functions, and to accelerate accounts receivables and accounts payables management. We use remote deposit capture (RDC) to basically create a branch at our customer's desk. RDC enables us to compete immediately without a bunch of bricks and mortar. We can put a deposit machine in our clients' office, and they can scan the checks and make a deposit at their office. We already have 35 remote deposit locations implemented.

We offer account reconciliation, ACH, image lockbox, wire transfers and zero-balance accounts. On the payables side we offer online bill pay and outgoing wires. Another functionality we provide is fraud protection with positive pay -- customers send us a file containing whom they want to pay and we can kick back checks written to others not on the list. In the cash management area we offer investment sweeps, online banking, loan sweeps and cash concentration. From soup to nuts, we have everything the big banks have.

BS&T: What value-added services do you provide?

Given: When we call on a prospective client we ask for analysis statements from their current bank. We take the time to understand their processes and their cash flow situation and then provide a proposal for a solution that makes the best use of the technology that is available.

BS&T: Do you outsource treasury management?

Given: We outsource treasury management as well as our core processing through Jack Henry & Associates [Monett, Mo.]. Although the big banks have developed their treasury management systems internally, the technology is so accessible that third-party vendors have been able to keep up with what the big banks offer. We can use off-the-shelf technology and compete with anything the big banks have. In our market, that includes Wachovia [Charlotte, N.C.], Wells Fargo Bank [San Francisco], Bank of America [Charlotte, N.C.], JPMorgan Chase [New York] and Frost Bank [San Antonio].

BS&T: Do you have internal IT staff?

Given: No, but we have some very technology-savvy employees. Our senior vice president of treasury management, Tom Moreno, was on the steering committee for Wells Fargo and on the strategy committee for Compass Bank [Birmingham, Ala.]. We have other staff with technology prowess. We also have a third-party networking consultant. We may be lean, but we're very plugged in.

BS&T: Can you describe your "Team Banking" product to serve business customers' employees?

Given: One of the keys to being successful in business banking is dealing with business owners and becoming their trusted adviser. The business owner may have loans and deposits with us, but his or her biggest resource and assets are the employees of the business. To help take care of those employees we offer those employees free checking products and other products to make banking easier. The bigger banks do this, but we believe we "out-big" the small banks and "out-small" the big banks by offering big-bank products with customer service, local management and local decision making. It gives us a competitive advantage.

BS&T: As a de novo bank, what are the major technology challenges The Bank of San Antonio faces?

Given: Unlike the big institutions, we don't have a massive technology department with hundreds of programmers. But what we can do is to team up with a core processor vendor and leverage its work. As long as we are comfortable with it being able to keep up and roll out the newest and greatest, then that alliance is awesome for a de novo. It's been important for us to select a partner that not only offers a competitive solution but that has long-term goals and commitment to upgrading.

BS&T: How is the technology selection process for a de novo bank different than for an established bank?

Given: Regulators want you to narrow down your selection as part of your business plan. We submitted our charter application -- by the time the regulators come back and ask questions, you have to be pretty well down the road with a vendor. The technology advisory firm Abound Resources [Austin, Texas] helped us quickly narrow the field down to two or three competitive vendors.

BS&T: What future technology initiatives is the bank currently considering?

Given: We'd like to offer a P-card, or purchasing card, to our customers. The big banks offer it; it allows a business to restrict the type of purchases an employee is able to make, such as allowing a delivery driver to only buy gas or the purchasing department to only buy supplies. It's pretty slick and is integrated in the accounts payable system.

BS&T: What has been your greatest career challenge?

Given: Starting a de novo. It was a lot of fun, and we were lucky to have a supportive shareholder base. Being able to compete immediately was very exciting. There are two community bank models: the old-line community banks; and the new community banks, like us, that have a lot of capital, are technology savvy, and can support growth and compete with the big guys. It's fun to be with the latter. q

--Lisa Valentine

INCE OPENING for business in June 2007, The Bank of San Antonio (San Antonio) has grown its assets to more than $60 million. With a focus on business banking, the bank's strategy is to use technology to compete against the large financial institutions in its backyard by offering commercial products and services not typically found in a community bank. By relying heavily on outsourcing IT and partnering with technology providers, Brent Given, the bank's president and CEO, has helped assemble a team capable of achieving big-bank products and services in a community banking environment.

Executive Resume:

Name: Brent Given

Age: 44

Title: President and CEO

Education: University of Texas San Antonio, BBA in Accounting and CPA

First Job: Savings & loan examiner for the Texas Savings and Loan Department

Hobbies: Skiing, hunting and fishing with his sons.