Photo by Benita Drew
Simmons Bank
(479) 967-8000 | 800 North Arkansas, Russellville, AR
After 117 years, Simmons Bank is one of few banks that can say it has never been sold. Starting in 1903 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, with first-day’s deposits of $3,338.22, Simmons opened its first drive-thru in 1953 and purchased its first computer in 1982. Simmons now has 200 branches, all Arkansas owned, in seven states, with 73 branches in Arkansas, alone.
According to Amanda Crow, 800 North Arkansas Avenue branch manager, “our Russellville employees have 413 years of combined banking experience. That is not a lot of turnover. Experience is the key: the more experience you have, the better you are at your job.”
Making the list as one of 2020 Forbes World’s Best Banks is likely due in part to Simmons’s customer service. Simmons Community President Scott Hill said, “If you don’t have customer service, you are just like everybody else. We try to really spoil our customers. We are small enough to treat them like they have their own private banker, but we have all to offer that the larger banks have. We focus on needs based conversations. We get to know our customers and what we can help them with later on.”
Lately, he said, Simmons has learned to cater to online banking. He also added that Simmons completed 200 Payment Protection Program loans within four weeks. “We did 13 million dollars worth. We are proud of that. It helped a lot of people in the community. We worked late to get them completed. We didn’t have anybody that applied that didn’t get approved. We helped a lot of people when they needed it the most.”
Along with customer service, Simmons Bank prides itself in community involvement. The Simmons First Foundation was established in 2013 to give back to communities. Russellville Simmons Banks have participated in or sponsored several local events, including Russellville Cyclone Achiever, the annual Chambers banquet, Rhea Lana’s, the Business Expo, Russellville Downtown Chili cook-off, Hoops for Hunger, Bingo at Brookdale, Food-4-Kids, United Way Read-a-thon, Continuing Education by River Valley Board of Realtors, United Way, and Community Service Golf tournament.
Simmons bank has several Russellville locations with the main branch at 800 North Arkansas Avenue offering ATM, drive-thru, full service, mortgages and wealth management; 3079 East Main branch offering ATM, drive-thru and full service, and ATM only at 306 West O Street on Arkansas Tech University Campus. Also in the River Valley is a Clarksville location at 1100 South Rogers. It offers ATM, drive-thru, full service and mortgages.
For general information about Simmons Bank, call 1-866-246-2400, or visit their website at www.simmonsbank.com. To speak to someone at Russellville’s main branch, call 479-967-8000.
