Southwest Capital Bank, located at 608 Mountain View Drive, is one of the bank’s three branches in Las Vegas. Southwest Capital Bank will be joining forces with WestStar Bank, based in El Paso, Texas.
Southwest Capital Bank, which has maintained a presence in Las Vegas for more than 135 years, is planning to join forces with another banking institution in an effort to strengthen technology and expand business.
In an email sent to The Optic on Sept. 23, Shanon Woodruff, senior vice president and marketing director of the El Paso, Texas-based WestStar Bank, announced that his company has entered into a “definitive agreement to join forces” with Southwest Capital Bank.
“The combination will expand WestStar’s presence into Albuquerque and Northern New Mexico while building on Southwest Capital Bank’s more than 135 years of service to New Mexico communities,” Woodruff says in the email.
A press release from WestStar Bank states that a “definitive agreement” has taken place between WestStar Bank Holding Company, Inc, the holding company of WestStar Bank and Las Vegas Bancorporation, Inc., the Albuquerque-based holding company of Southwest Capital Bank. The agreement entails combining their organizations and creating a community banking franchise to serve New Mexico and the Borderplex region.
Online sources define the Borderplex region as encompassing El Paso, Texas; Ciudad Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua and Las Cruces/Doña Ana County.
The press release goes on to state that, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals as well as
customary closing conditions, Southwest Capital Bank will become part of WestStar Bank during the first quarter of 2027.
Southwest Capital Bank CEO Chez Steel said the merger will be a “positive transition for the people of Las Vegas.” The merger will bring a “more modern, more robust” computer system to Southwest Capital Bank, he said.
“They bring strength and tools that we just don’t have,” Steel said of WestStar Bank.
Aside from the boost in technology, Steel said there is hope that the merger will help both banking institutions expand business, which they are hoping to do throughout New Mexico.
Liliana Miranda, executive vice president and chief operating officer of WestStar Bank, said that her company has 13 banking branches in El Paso County. WestStar Bank has one location in New Mexico. It is in Las Cruces, which is adjacent to El Paso.
Most of WestStar Bank’s presence in New Mexico is in the form of loan services, Miranda said. These are offered throughout the state.
Miranda said WestStar Bank has been looking into expanding into the New Mexico market as it more resembles El Paso than East Texas.
“It more resembles our community,” Miranda said of New Mexico. “We like to be in markets where we add value to the community.”
Both Miranda and Steel mentioned a new Southwest Capital Bank branch that is planned for Santa Fe as an example of the bank’s desire to expand its reach into more communities throughout the state.
Southwest Capital Bank has six branches, Steel said. There are currently three branches in Las Vegas and one in Mora, in Pecos and in Albuquerque.
One of the branches in Las Vegas – the one located at 622 Douglas Ave. – is set to close as the building has been sold to the city of Las Vegas. Steel noted the recent sale, and said that while that branch will be closing there are plans to expand the bank’s location at 608 Mountain View Drive.
“We didn’t need that big of a building, and the city could use it, so it’s a win-win,” Steel said of the sale of the building on Douglas Avenue.
The merger will not present immediate changes for Southwest Capital Bank customers, Steel said. Miranda said that, for the immediate future, it will be “business as usual” for customers.
The merger may entail a new title for Steel, who will go from being the CEO of Southwest Capital Bank to New Mexico market president.
