Banking / Banks

The Best Regional Banks Throughout the West South Central

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Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana make up the West South Central region, which is the geographical bridge between the American Southwest and the Deep South. There’s plenty of variety among the region’s 10 best financial institutions, including giant banks that are by no means unique to the area and small regional banks and credit unions — including one local gem you won’t find anywhere else in the country.

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In order to pick out the best financial institutions in the West South Central states, GOBankingRates examined the checking fees, savings APY and 12-month CD APY associated with each bank or credit union, as well as the number of branch locations. You’ll see all of that critical information laid out below, but the study dug even deeper.

The rankings also considered what other kinds of financial products and services each bank and credit union offers — including mortgages, vehicle loans, investment services, insurance and credit cards — as well as their total assets and their mobile app ratings.

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The following is a list of the top 10 banks and credit unions in the West South Central region of America.

JP Morgan Chase

Branch locations: 4,960
Checking fee: $12
Savings APY: 0.01%
12-month CD APY: 0.02%

Check Out: GOBankingRates’ Best Checking Accounts of 2022

Navy Federal Credit Union

Branch locations: 298
Checking fee: $0
Savings APY: 0.25%
12-month CD APY: 0.55%

Bank of America

Branch locations: 4,215
Checking fee: $12
Savings APY: 0.01%
12-month CD APY: 0.03%

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Wells Fargo

Branch locations: 5,024
Checking fee: $10
Savings APY: 0.01%
12-month CD APY: 0.01%

American Airlines Credit Union

Branch locations: 38
Checking fee: $4.75
Savings APY: 0.40%
12-month CD APY: 0.50%

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Eastman

Branch locations: 28
Checking fee: $0
Savings APY: 0.30%
12-month CD APY: 0.65

Tinker Federal Credit Union

Branch locations: 28
Checking fee: $0
Savings APY: 0.25
12-month CD APY: 0.55%

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Delta Community

Branch locations: 30
Checking fee: $0
Savings APY: 0.08%
12-month CD APY: 0.55%

U.S. Bank

Branch locations: 2,319
Checking fee: $6.95
Savings APY: 0.01%
12-month CD APY: 0.05%

Truist Bank

Branch locations: 2,562
Checking fee: $12
Savings APY: 0.01%
12-month CD APY: 0.05%

More From GOBankingRates

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Methodology: To discover the Top 100 Best Banks, GOBankingRates looked at all institutions with available published data (National, Regional, Local, and Online) from the 2021 Best Banks categories as well as all Credit Unions with over $1 billion in total assets and accessible to a wide audience. GOBankingRates looked at the following factors: (1) total assets as sourced from the FDIC and NCUA; (2) number of branch locations as sourced from the FDIC and NCUA; (3) checking account annual fee; (4) savings account APY rate; (5) 12-month CD APY rate; (6) customer service products offered (24/7 customer service and live chat with a human); (7) Bauer rating (out of 5 stars); (8) products/services offered (auto loans, mortgage loans, credit cards, investment services, and insurance); and (9) the average mobile app rating between the android and apple stores. All factors were then scored and combined, with the lowest score being best. Factors (1) and (4) were weighted 1.5 times in final scoring, factor (2) was weighted 2 times, factor (6) was weighted 0.5 times, and factor (8) was weighted 2.5 times. For all Savings and Checking Account data only the basic accounts/products offered at each institution was analyzed. All data is up to date as of 12/8/21, rates and fees subject to change.

Editorial Note: This content is not provided by any entity covered in this article. Any opinions, analyses, reviews, ratings or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author alone and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any entity named in this article.

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About the Author

Andrew Lisa has been writing professionally since 2001. An award-winning writer, Andrew was formerly one of the youngest nationally distributed columnists for the largest newspaper syndicate in the country, the Gannett News Service. He worked as the business section editor for amNewYork, the most widely distributed newspaper in Manhattan, and worked as a copy editor for TheStreet.com, a financial publication in the heart of Wall Street's investment community in New York City.

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