Vista Bank

History

On January 25, 1912, the doors opened for the first bank in the new town of Ralls under the name of W.E. McLaughlin, Banker, Unincorporated, with a capitalization of $11,000. It was an unincorporated private bank. In 1914, McLaughlin opened another bank with the same name in Lorenzo. McLaughlin put up the capital, but his sons ran the banks under his supervision. They installed cutting-edge technology – a private telephone connection between the banks. When World War I broke out and one son went off to war McLaughlin sold the Lorenzo bank.

In 1918, because of concerns about a run on deposits, McLaughlin obtained a state charter for the bank, joined the Texas Guaranty Fund and changed its name to Guaranty State Bank in Ralls. The guaranty fund was a state-supported version of today’s federal deposit insurance system, but McLaughlin’s bank only stayed in the fund until 1921 when the rising cost of assessments made participating in the fund too expensive. The bank’s name changed again to Security State Bank & Trust.

In 1933, a national banking crisis prompted President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to declare a nationwide bank holiday and to order examinations of every bank in the nation. Only banks found to be solvent were allowed to reopen under their previous owners. The rest were either liquidated or opened under new owners and new capital — a process Kirk McLaughlin said is similar to the way the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. handles bank failures today. Security State Bank was one of the few in the region to reopen without reorganizing.

The business continued until 1984 when the family formed the McLaughlin Bancshares holding company and began purchasing other banks, according to a history provided by the bank. McLaughlin Bancshares bought the Idalou State Bank in 1984. When the state dropped its prohibition on branch banking in 1987, the bank opened a branch in Lorenzo — where McLaughlin had briefly operated a branch two years after operating in Ralls. Five years later, the family opened branches in Crosbyton and Abernathy.

Since then, McLaughlin Bancshares has acquired the First State Bank in Petersburg, FNB West Texas in Plainview and Hale Center, and opened two branches in Lubbock. The bank has prided itself on being on the leading edge of technology, starting with setting up a private telephone line between the original Ralls and Lorenzo banks in the early years.

The name change, to Vista Bank, occurred with entering the Lubbock market.

Timeline

Business Banking

Vista Bank provides business banking services, including: business checking, nonprofit checking, business lending, CD's and savings, in addition to many other online services. They specialize in agriculture, commercial and real estate lending.

Personal Banking

Vista Bank provides personal banking services, including: checking, savings, student savings, CD's, IRA's, mortgage loans, personal loans, and many additional online services.

Community Involvement

In 2009, Vista Bank started Vista Outreach, a community outreach program within the bank operated by employees as well as friends and family. In 2015, 77 percent of Vista Bank employees donated 408 hours of their time to benefit our communities. In 2015, Vista Bank employees raised $1,615 for the Salvation Army by paying $5.00 to wear jeans throughout the year. Vista Bank employees also gave back to their communities by volunteering and supporting Meals on Wheels, Loaves and Fishes, Adopt a Highway, Boys Ranch, YWCA, Children’s Miracle Network, Buckners Children’s Home, Ralls City Wide Cleanup, Communities in School, American Diabetes Association, and many more.