MidFirst Bank is an Oklahoma City, Oklahoma-based bank, concentrated in the state of Oklahoma, Phoenix, Arizona and Denver, Colorado. It is one of the largest privately owned banks in the United States and the largest in Arizona.
History
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MidFirst traces its roots to the Midland Mortgage Company, which was founded in 1950 by a group of Oklahoma City-area bankers. In 1956, Oklahoma City-area banker W.R. Johnston purchased half of the company, acquiring the rest in 1963 along with his son-in-law, George Records. Johnston and Records then created a group of companies known as the Midland Group, of which Midland Financial Co. was the primary business.
In 1982, Midland Financial purchased a thrift charter and changed its name to MidFirst Bank; the new bank would provide the Midland Mortgage Company depository services for its escrows, as well as funding for mortgage origination activities. In one year, with just one location and five employees, the bank had $1.7 million in assets.
Changes in the mortgage industry in the 1980s and new senior management spurred Midland Mortgage Company, now led by Jeff Records, to close its mortgage origination offices and purchase portfolios of mortgage servicing rights and mortgage-backed securities, which had high returns on investment.
The bank expanded during this time, opening its own branches as well as acquiring ten branches from regulatory agencies and six more in a private transaction to bring it to 24 branches by 1991.
In the 1990s, the mortgage side of the company turned its servicing acquisition focus toward high-interest rate loans backed by the Government National Mortgage Association; this decision and successful strategies would accelerate MidFirst's growth in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Meanwhile, as the low mortgage rates of the 1990s spurred a boom in refinancing, Midland opened a centralized loan processing facility to streamline refinancing for mortgages it already serviced.
Rapid bank expansion came in the second half of the 1990s as MidFirst rapidly spread throughout Oklahoma in an aim to ensure the long-term growth of the bank. It added branches in major Oklahoma markets and expanded its commercial banking services as the acquisition of MidFirst competitors by other, larger national banks led to the availability of key talent for MidFirst. This increased MidFirst's market share and made it the bank of choice for many commercial bankers in the state. The commercial real estate business would expand in the 2000s with new lending offices in Houston, Chicago, New York, and Newport Beach, California.
MidFirst then moved into its second market. Beginning in 2005, it began a major and aggressive expansion into Phoenix, using major sponsorships of sporting events, the receivership of two failed Arizona banks in 2009 and a 2012 deal with Arizona State University that gave it preferred status and a much-increased presence on campus. It opened its Arizona banking headquarters in 2006.
In 2013, MidFirst Bank and the University of Central Oklahoma entered into a 10-year agreement, which made MidFirst the exclusive strategic banking partner of UCO. The agreement includes an innovative campus card program, which integrates a Visa® check card and student and employee ID program; offers UCO Visa check cards and credit cards for alumni and fans; and provides financial-literacy resources to the UCO community.
In 2013, MidFirst also acquired Presidential Financial Corporation, an Atlanta-based senior secured lender; Presidential remains a subsidiary of MidFirst.
In 2015, MidFirst completed its acquisition of Denver-based Steele Street Bank & Trust.
Management
MidFirst chairman and CEO G. Jeffrey Records, Jr. is a part-owner of the Oklahoma City Thunder of the NBA through its ownership group The Professional Basketball Club, LLC.
References
- ^ MidFirst 2014 financial reports
- ^ MidFirst 2014 financial reports
- ^ MidFirst 2007 financial report with company history
- ^ MidFirst Bank growing, hiring 170 employees, Phoenix Business Journal, 6 June 2008
- ^ MidFirst Bank partnership to change university ID and banking, The State Press, 4 April 2012
- ^ MidFirst Bank assumes deposits of Union Bank N.A. and Community Bank of Arizona
- ^ MidFirst Bank acquires Presidential Financial Corp., Phoenix Business Journal, 8 March 2013
- ^ MidFirst Bank completes buy of Denver's Steele Street Bank & Trust, Denver Business Journal, 7 January 2015
- ^ Thunder Roll, Oklahoma Today, Jan/Feb 2009
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