Business as usual after bank shutdown

First Community Bank customers in Clovis and Portales should hardly notice things are changing after the FDIC closed the bank and ownership was transferred to U.S. Bank N.A., of Minneapolis, according to the FDIC.

“It really is just business as usual under our new name,” FDIC Spokeswoman Roberta Valdez said Monday.

Services will be uninterrupted and customers will continue to use their First Community checks, debit cards and all electronic services such as direct deposit and bill payments will continue, she said.

“We do all the work, the customers just go on... it’s a win-win situation for the customers — they do nothing and get a great new line of services and products,” said U.S. Bank Spokesman Steve Dale.

“If anything changes, we will err on the side of over communicating.”

Dale said the most jobs will remain intact, especially within branches. The only jobs which may be phased out are those which overlap similar positions in U.S. Bank, he said.

Dale, who said details are still being worked out, declined to discuss further the possibility of job eliminations.

U.S. Bank is expected to begin converting to its own computer systems in the third quarter and customers will be given plenty of notice as changes occur, Valdez said.

Regulators announced Friday the bank was being shut down and sold after failing. The FDIC reported the failure would cost it an estimated $260 million.

Valdez said no money was lost on deposits, which are insured by the FDIC.

First Community Bank, based in Taos, has 35 branches in New Mexico including two branches in Clovis and one in Portales.

The New Mexico bank was one of four Midwest banks closed Friday, with other banks located in Colorado, Wisconsin and Oklahoma.

• For information from the FDIC on the First Community Bank failure: fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/firstcomm_nm.html

• FDIC call number: (800) 450-5417