Cullen/Frost Bankers is expanding in Austin with plans to double its branch presence in the high-growth Texas market over the next three years.
The company plans to open 17 new financial centers in the Austin region, adding more than 170 new jobs by 2026. The first new branch opened last month in the city's South Austin neighborhood, the San Antonio-based parent company of Frost Bank said this week.
Large technology companies including Oracle, Hewlett-Packard and Tesla have moved into the Austin region in recent years.
"As Austin continues to experience growth, Frost is poised to grow alongside it," Tim Crowley, Frost Bank's president for the Austin region, said in an email. "Our goal is to make the most of the overall market potential and build on our solid reputation with our customer base."
The $51.2 billion-asset bank has $5.8 billion of deposits in the Austin market, according to data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Frost Bank holds 8.2% of the market's deposits, placing it fourth behind JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America.
The firm's recent expansion efforts in Houston and Dallas have already peeled away customers from "too-big-to-fail" banks that operate in Texas, Cullen/Frost CEO Phil Green said during the bank's first-quarter earnings call.
"You hear a lot of narrative that, 'Well, regionals can't compete with them,'" Green said. "We can and we have been."
Cullen/Frost has attributed
In 2021, the bank completed an initial 25-branch expansion in Houston. It has since announced plans to open additional new locations.
In Dallas, Frost Bank opened three new branches during the first quarter and is planning to open around 12 more, according to Crowley.
"We're actively growing our branch network to enhance and increase our services to customers in this thriving market," Crowley said. "Our strategy is centered around expanding our presence in the community."
