VISTA BANK
Our Legacy
Entrepreneurs Banking Entrepreneurs Since 1912
A century of perspective.
Helping clients navigate the Dust Bowl, the Great Depression, Two World Wars, the Recession, and a global pandemic, we know there’s just something about tenacity.
At a glance.
Best known as the ‘Entrepreneurs’ Bank,’ Vista Bank was founded in 1912 and serves markets across North, Central, and West Texas as well as South Florida through its Loan & Deposit Production Office, 16 Banking Center locations, and emerging digital presence.
With asset growth over 700% in the last decade, Vista broke into the Top 100 Texas Banks by asset size in 2018 and ranked #21 out of 610 banks between $1-5 billion in assets nationally by CB Resource, Inc. in 2022.
With a rich 111-year history of ‘Entrepreneurs Banking Entrepreneurs,’ Vista operates more like a start-up than a traditional bank; offering innovative solutions for personal and commercial clients alike, while never sacrificing our top priority of putting People First.
- Privately-Owned
- Domiciled in Dallas, Texas
- Asset Size: $1.9 billion *per our publicly filed Q1 2023 regulatory call report + recent Charis acquisition.
- Team Members: 193

Founder W.E. McLaughlin opened the doors to our first Bank in Ralls, Texas, capitalized with $11,000.

The second Bank location was opened in Lorenzo, Texas, with cutting-edge technology of connecting the two banks via telephone.

To prevent a run on the Bank during the crash, W.E. McLaughlin obtained a state banking charter and joined the Texas Guaranty Fund (precursor to the FDIC).

The Bank’s name was changed from Guaranty State Bank to Security State Bank, the name it would bear for almost nine decades.

Amidst another banking crisis, President Roosevelt ordered all banks in the U.S. be closed and examined. After 100 days, Security would be among the few in West Texas to re-open.

The McLaughlin family formed McLaughlin Bancshares and purchased Idalou State Bank.

Expanded to Crosbyton, Abernathy, Petersburg, Hale Center and Plainview, naming all locations Security Bank for brand continuity.

The Bank was rebranded to Vista Bank, opening two new banking centers in Lubbock, Texas.

Expanding to Dallas, Vista first opened a Loan Production Office downtown before relocating the domicile to a Northwest Highway banking center, where it remains today. The Bank would also open offices in Fort Worth, Haskell, and Austin.

Acquiring the Charis Family of Banks, new locations were established in Justin and the iconic Crescent building in Uptown Dallas. The Bank also expanded into South Dallas and opened its first location outside of Texas, launching a Private Banking Loan Production Office in Palm Beach, Florida.
Put your money where your values are.
Core values are only as good as they are evident. For over a century, we’ve valued things like honesty, integrity, humility, and a strong work ethic. And we put those beliefs into practice daily through our community development and Vista Outreach programs. That’s our legacy.
Hungry l Humble l Smart l Anticipate l Sacrifice l Consistency
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