Clovis bank to merge with Carlsbad bank

Western Bank of Clovis plans to merge with Western Commerce Bank, headquartered in Carlsbad, in early 2023, according to representatives of the bank.

Jason Wyatt, chairman, president and CEO of Western Bank of Clovis, and vice-chairman, president and CEO of Western Commerce Bank, said “the main purpose of the merger is to provide the Clovis bank with greater resources in order to grow and better serve the communities of Clovis and Portales.”

The two “sister banks” currently have common management, common members of the board of directors and common ownership, Wyatt said.

“Due to ever-increasing expenses in compliance and IT technology, smaller banks have a hard time growing,” he said. “Western Commerce is a much larger bank and can provide Clovis with those resources.”

“There won’t be any changes outside of the name of the bank, which will become a branch of Western Commerce Bank,” he said. “For customers, the accounts will remain the same, but the bank will be able to provide additional products and services.”

Blake Curtis, member of the Board of Directors of Western Bank of Clovis, said: “Plans for this merger are in motion and we expect the merger to take place sometime after the first of the year in early 2023.

“I really like the idea of a hometown bank in the community but we also have to recognize the financial strength that will come from this merger,” Curtis said.

The federal oversight requirements and compliance regulations are “considerable,” he said. Merging the banks will free the Clovis bank to “focus on lending, which is what we are all about—service to our customers and to our community.”