Rebranded Field & Main Bank to open Monday

Jan. 25--HENDERSON, Ky. -- A new financial institution -- Field and Main Bank -- will open here Monday as a result of the merger of Ohio Valley Financial Group and BankTrust Financial, creating what it calls "modern craft banking."

The merger, announced last July, will create an entity with nearly $400 million in assets and approximately 18,000 customers from the two banks.

It will also extend what has been Ohio Valley's lead as the largest commercial bank in Henderson as measured by local deposits.

Ohio Valley's Chairman and CEO Scott Davis will serve in those same positions at Field & Main, while president positions will be held by both BankTrust President and CEO Dale Sights and Ohio Valley President Chris Melton.

"All things considered, this transaction has been about as smooth as we could hope for," Davis said last week. "We've had a lot of good people focusing on a good outcome.

"The proof will be in the conversion of our IT (computer) systems this weekend," he added.

Offices

Field & Main will have five full-service locations. The Henderson offices are the former Ohio Valley main office at Second and Main, the Old Orchard branch at 400 Barret Blvd. and the Eastgate Branch at 1720 Second St.

Among the Henderson offices, lobby hours will be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, while the drive-thru windows will operate from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays (6 p.m. on Fridays).

The Old Orchard branch lobby and drive-thru will also be open 8:30 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.

It will also operate in the former Ohio Valley branch at 1020 N. Burkhardt Road in Evansville as well as a BankTrust office in Cynthiana, Kentucky, and Ohio Valley's loan production office in downtown Lexington.

BankTrust's two Henderson locations at 208 N. Main St. and 2003 Stapp Drive have been permanently closed as bank offices, effective at the close of business last Saturday. Both are located close to larger Ohio Valley offices.

However, Davis said BankTrust's former headquarters on North Main, after a remodeling project, will house Field & Main Insurance, formed by the merger of Ohio Valley Insurance Services and BankTrust's Latta Insurance Division.

Until then, the insurance agency will operate at 201-B N. Main St. (Faught & Jones Insurance, which merged with Latta effective Nov. 1, will be integrated into that operation later, he said.)

Accounts

The deposit accounts, such as checking accounts, of customers of both banks will continue to function as they have in the past. Their checks, debit cards and direct deposit transactions will remain valid until new debit cards are issued in mid-2015.

"In the majority of cases, even your login credentials for online banking will remain the same" -- although a "few" deposit customers will receive a new account number -- "as will your mobile banking and electronic statement preferences," according to the bank.

Loan terms and payment options will be unchanged, although all loan customers will receive a new loan account number. Consumer and mortgage loan customers will also receive a new coupon book.

Home mortgage and auto loan customers are urged to contact their insurance agent to change the loss payee or mortgagee on their policy to Field & Main Bank Inc., ISAOA, P.O. Box 5, Henderson, KY 42419.

Starting Monday morning, former Ohio Valley and BankTrust customers can conduct online banking at the new website at fieldandmain.com. While most customers will be able to use their existing username, all BankTrust customers will be promoted by the website to use a different password starting Monday.

Until Monday, Ohio Valley online customers can continue to use ohiovalleyfg.com; BankTrust customers won't have access to online services until the new website is functioning on Monday.

Additional details are available in brochures mailed to customers of both banks or at fieldandmain.com.

Customers with questions can call toll-free 888-831-1500 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Field and Main Bank's phone number will be 270-831-1500 or 888-831-1500.

'Craft banking'

Field & Main Bank will introduce a brand of service it says "brings together the latest technologies with a personal touch."

Starting this spring at the main office at Second and Main, Field & Main will abandon traditional teller counters in favor of freestanding "service pods" that Davis said will allow employees to interact more directly with customers.

"These have been on our drawing board for 2½ years, well before our discussion of merger," he said.

"Less than 25 percent of our transactions occur over the teller line," which have existed primarily to secure tellers' cash drawers. Davis said.

Instead, Field & Main will transition to "podium-like devices" where cash will be secured in machines, called "currency recyclers," that can dispense cash, accept deposits and handle other functions.

Getting employees out from behind the teller counter will give them greater mobility. "That way, retail bankers can connect with customers and demonstrate electronic services" available on computers and mobile devices, Davis said.

"We are moving away from impersonal transactions toward a carefully crafted experience that revives almost forgotten values and pairs them with modern progress," Sights said in a statement.

Field & Main name

The merged bank's new name has raised some eyebrows.

"It's a non-bank name," Davis acknowledged.

"It connects well with a lot of our agrarian nature" while also evoking the pleasures of "a baseball field or a hunting field," he said.

Davis agreed that Field & Main also taps into the fact that the bank serves both farmers and Main Street-type customers -- "like Farmers & Merchants," a traditional bank name still used by 32 institutions across the Middle America, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

"It's like an updated version of that," he said.

Little job loss

The merger is resulting in a minimal reduction in employees from the two banks, according to Davis.

"We've been fortunate that through retirement, attrition and other planning, there will be very few positions eliminated at the time of merger," he said.

"There will be only a handful, and not all in the Henderson market," Davis said.

Assets

A Kentucky state-chartered institution, Field & Main will combine the $259.8 million of assets from Ohio Valley (as of last Sept. 31) and the $136.3 million from BankTrust, according to the FDIC. A bank's assets consist primarily of its loan portfolio.

Those assets also include Ohio Valley's $25.3 million in total equity capital and BankTrust's $15.7 million.

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