Who are Cullen/Frost Bankers's competitors, and what are the alternatives?
Cullen/Frost's 2025 10-K, filed February 5, 2026, says there is significant competition among commercial banks in its markets and names savings and loans, credit unions, consumer finance companies, securities firms, private equity and debt funds, insurers, leasing companies, brokerage firms and fintech or wealthtech firms as further rivals; its risk factors add that many competitors are larger. Frost operates only in Texas, through about 204 financial centers. In the four big metros the national banks lead: at June 30, 2025 JPMorgan Chase held 50.61% of Houston deposits and Bank of America 20.54% of Dallas-Fort Worth's, against Frost's 2.30% and 1.57%. Frost is strongest at home in San Antonio, third with 7.49% behind USAA and Citibank, which each book deposits at a single office there, and fifth in Austin with 7.26%. Among regionals it meets Prosperity (363 locations after Stellar), Texas Capital, Zions' Amegy in Houston and BOK Financial in Dallas, and a wave of entrants: Huntington through Veritex and Cadence, Fifth Third through Comerica, and Regions with 85 Texas branches. Frost's CEO warned in August 2026 of 'a bit of a race to the bottom' on loan structure as these lenders chase Texas business. The non-bank rivals are USAA, a San Antonio neighbor with 9.6 million bank members, Charles Schwab in wealth and brokerage, and Chime in branchless checking.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]
Data as of Oct 19, 2026 · Frost profile updated Oct 13, 2026 · computed tables recalculate from the 140 bank profiles on this site · Markdown
What does Frost say about its competition?
"There is significant competition among commercial banks in our market areas. In addition, we also compete with other providers of financial services, such as savings and loan associations, credit unions, consumer finance companies, securities firms, private equity and debt funds, insurance companies, insurance agencies, commercial finance and leasing companies, full service brokerage firms, discount brokerage firms, and financial/wealth technology ("fintech/wealthtech") firms. Some of our competitors have greater resources and, as such, may have higher lending limits and may offer other services that are not provided by us. We generally compete on the basis of customer service and responsiveness to customer needs, available loan and deposit products, the rates of interest charged on loans, the rates of interest paid for funds, and the availability and pricing of trust, brokerage and insurance services."[1]
From the risk factors of the same 10-K: "We face substantial competition in all areas of our operations from a variety of different competitors, many of which are larger and may have more financial resources than us. Such competitors primarily include national, regional, and community banks within the various markets where we operate."[1]
"Also, technology and other changes have lowered barriers to entry and made it possible for non-banks to offer products and services traditionally provided by banks. In particular, the activity of fintechs/wealthtechs has grown significantly over recent years and is expected to continue to grow. Some fintechs/wealthtechs are not subject to the same regulation as we are, which may allow them to be more competitive. Fintechs/wealthtechs have and may continue to offer bank or bank-like products and a number of such organizations have applied for bank or industrial loan charters while others have partnered with existing banks to allow them to offer deposit products to their customers." (2025 Form 10-K, filed February 5, 2026.)[1]
Who competes with Frost in each of its businesses?
| Business line | Competitor | Type | Why it competes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home region: Texas | JPMorgan Chase | Bank | The largest deposit holder in Houston (50.61%, 156 offices) and Austin (17.74%) and third in Dallas-Fort Worth (13.94%) at June 30, 2025, against Frost's 2.30%, 7.26% and 1.57%.[2][5][3] |
| Home region: Texas | Bank of America | Bank | Holds 20.54% of Dallas-Fort Worth deposits through 120 offices and 10.59% of Austin's, against Frost's 1.57% and 7.26% (June 30, 2025).[3][5] |
| Home region: Texas | Wells Fargo | Bank | Second in Houston deposits (8.86%, 137 offices) and third in Austin (13.92%, 54 offices) at June 30, 2025; Frost had 63 and 26 offices in those metros.[2][5] |
| Home region: Texas | Prosperity Bancshares | Bank | A Houston-based rival in Frost's 2026 proxy peer group that completed its Stellar merger on July 1, 2026 and runs 363 locations; Banking Dive reported its executives saying larger banks made it hard to grow loans profitably in Texas.[13][6][11] |
| Home region: Texas | Huntington Bancshares | Bank | Bought Dallas-based Veritex in October 2025 and closed its Cadence Bank merger on February 2, 2026; its CEO calls Texas a springboard. Frost's CEO says it is targeting customers disrupted by rivals' mergers.[8][7][14] |
| Home region: Texas | Fifth Third Bancorp | Bank | Moved 293 Comerica banking centers in Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan and Texas onto its platforms in September 2026; Comerica, a former Frost proxy peer, held 0.76% of Dallas-Fort Worth deposits in June 2025.[9][13][3] |
| Home region: Texas | Regions Financial | Bank | Ran 85 Texas branches at December 31, 2025; Banking Dive lists Regions with Fifth Third and Huntington among the regionals chasing Texas business.[10][11] |
| Commercial and middle-market banking | Texas Capital Bancshares | Bank | A Dallas commercial bank holding 1.97% of Dallas-Fort Worth deposits (June 2025); it opens commercial accounts in a few days through Initio and doubled investment-banking fees to $32 million in Q1 2026.[3][15][16] |
| Commercial and middle-market banking | Zions Bancorporation (Amegy) | Bank | A Frost proxy peer whose 11-state footprint includes Texas; it held 3.71% of Houston deposits through 57 offices at June 30, 2025, ahead of Frost's 2.30%.[13][17][2] |
| Commercial and middle-market banking | BOK Financial | Bank | A Frost proxy peer holding 0.98% of Dallas-Fort Worth deposits through 20 offices (June 2025); BOK's CEO is counting on a new mortgage-finance unit for 2026 loan growth.[13][3][18] |
| Retail deposits and everyday banking | USAA Federal Savings Bank | Bank | USAA's bank books 53.04% of San Antonio deposits at a single office (June 2025) and reported 9.6 million bank members in February 2026; it is a branchless bank in Frost's home city.[4][12] |
| Retail deposits and everyday banking | Chime | Fintech | A fintech offering bank-like products through partner banks, the model Frost's 10-K describes; Chime's own 10-K claims a cost advantage over traditional banks, and it had 10.4 million active members at June 30, 2026.[1][19][20] |
| Retail deposits and everyday banking | Credit unions | Credit union | Frost's 10-K names credit unions among the non-bank providers it competes with for deposits and loans across its Texas markets.[1] |
| Wealth management, trust and brokerage | Charles Schwab | Broker or asset manager | A discount brokerage of the kind Frost's 10-K names, headquartered in Westlake, Texas; Frost competes on 'the availability and pricing of trust, brokerage and insurance services' with $51.0 billion of trust assets (December 31, 2025).[1][21] |
| Wealth management, trust and brokerage | Hilltop Holdings (HilltopSecurities) | Bank | The Dallas parent of PlainsCapital Bank, PrimeLending and the broker-dealer HilltopSecurities, a securities firm of the kind Frost's 10-K names; PlainsCapital held 0.72% of Dallas-Fort Worth deposits (June 2025).[22][1][3] |
| Mortgage and home lending | PrimeLending (Hilltop) | Bank | Hilltop's mortgage arm competes for Texas home loans that Frost re-entered recently, with $595 million of originations in 2025, 19% above plan.[22][23] |
| Small business banking and payments | Square (Block) | Payments company | Block's 10-K lists banks that provide payment processing, checking, savings, loans and payroll among Square's competitors, the bank-like products Frost's 10-K says fintechs now offer.[24][1] |
| Small business banking and payments | Bank of America | Bank | Bank of America calls itself the number one small business lender in the US, citing FDIC data, serving 4 million small businesses, and it leads Dallas-Fort Worth deposits.[25][3] |
How do the AI and digital offerings of Frost's competitors compare?
Frost first, then each competitor. Use-case counts, index scores and latest moves are computed from our profiles of each company; "No profile" means this site has no page on it yet.
| Company | AI or digital offering | On the record (our profiles) | Latest dated AI move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cullen/Frost Bankers (this page) | Frost mobile app and Blend digital origination[26][27][28][29] | Index 49.3 (#58); 9 use cases, 7 in production | Blend 'Ecosystem Expander' award (Aug 27, 2026)[30] |
| JPMorgan Chase | A consumer travel agent targeted for pilot before end-2026; LLM Suite for 150,000 weekly staff users[31][32] | Index 89 (#6); 15 use cases, 8 in production | Q3 2026 call: outside AI agents stay blocked; AI spend put near $700 million (Oct 13, 2026)[33][34][35] |
| Bank of America | Erica virtual assistant: more than 24.6 million clients helped[25] | Index 97.3 (#1); 18 use cases, 16 in production | Treasury, FinCEN and OCC impose $1.21 billion in AML and sanctions penalties (Oct 13, 2026)[36][37][38] |
| Wells Fargo | Fargo virtual assistant: more than 1 billion interactions (March 2026)[39] | Index 88.8 (#7); 16 use cases, 13 in production | Q3 2026 call: AI agents in code, marketing, cyber, underwriting (Oct 13, 2026)[40][41] |
| Prosperity Bancshares | Real-time core processing system, live February 2026[42] | Index 40 (#71); 8 use cases, 4 in production | Q2 2026 10-Q repeats the AI risk bullet (Aug 6, 2026)[43] |
| Huntington Bancshares | Agentic process transformation, run from finance[44][45][46] | Index 84.2 (#13); 17 use cases, 15 in production | Named a Coverbase enterprise customer (Sep 29, 2026)[47] |
| Fifth Third Bancorp | Jeanie virtual assistant, bilingual in English and Spanish (September 2026)[48] | Index 84 (#14); 13 use cases, 10 in production | AI chief Jay Budzik describes the lending-model upgrade (Oct 12, 2026)[49] |
| Regions Financial | AI-driven banker platforms on a modernised stack[50][51] | Index 83.8 (#15); 15 use cases, 13 in production | Core deposits planned for 2027 (Oct 6, 2026)[52] |
| Texas Capital Bancshares | Ranger multi-LLM platform used by about 80% of staff; agents in loan operations and fraud[53] | Index 49.1 (#60); 12 use cases, 8 in production | Chief risk officer departs; chief credit officer steps in (Sep 16, 2026)[54] |
| Zions Bancorporation (Amegy) | Gemini-based enterprise AI platform; Zest AI for lending decisions[55][56] | Index 59.6 (#48); 16 use cases, 10 in production | Q2 2026 10-Q lists AI among emerging-technology risks (Aug 6, 2026)[57][58] |
| BOK Financial | Not disclosed | Index 41.8 (#69); 6 use cases, 4 in production | 18th for customer reputation (Aug 17, 2026)[59] |
| USAA Federal Savings Bank | More than 200 AI tools and products deployed (May 2025)[60] | Index 63.1 (#46); 14 use cases, 8 in production | USAA and Bank of America cross-license patent portfolios (Aug 4, 2026)[61][62] |
| Chime | Jade, an in-app AI financial partner available to some members[63] | 8 use cases, 6 in production | Agreement to acquire Stride Bank (Sep 8, 2026)[64] |
| Credit unions | Not disclosed | No profile | Not disclosed |
| Charles Schwab | AI tools for all 33,000 employees; an AI Service Assistant transcribing about 60,000 live interactions a day (April 2026)[65] | Index 80.7 (#19); 19 use cases, 15 in production | How Charley was built: employee testing, confirmation before any change (Oct 8, 2026)[66] |
| Hilltop Holdings (HilltopSecurities) | Not disclosed | Index 30.7 (#87); 9 use cases, 6 in production | HilltopSecurities survey: 50% of public finance leaders use AI daily or weekly (Oct 7, 2026)[67] |
| PrimeLending (Hilltop) | 15 AI tools ('MoBots') implemented over two years (November 2024)[68] | Index 30.7 (#87); 9 use cases, 6 in production | HilltopSecurities survey: 50% of public finance leaders use AI daily or weekly (Oct 7, 2026)[67] |
| Square (Block) | Managerbot, an AI business agent for Square sellers[69] | 7 use cases, 6 in production | Q2 2026: Moneybot passes 1 million weekly engaged accounts (Aug 5, 2026)[70] |
Who should look beyond Frost, and where?
| If you are | Look at | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Customers who want branches outside Texas | JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America or Wells Fargo | Frost's 10-K says it serves customers primarily across Texas through about 204 financial centers. Chase reported 5,083 branches in 2025 and Bank of America runs 3,500 financial centers.[1][71][25] |
| Customers who want an in-app AI assistant | Bank of America (Erica) or Wells Fargo (Fargo) | Frost has chosen not to front customer conversations with a bot. Erica helps more than 24.6 million clients, and Fargo passed 1 billion interactions in March 2026.[26][25][39] |
| Military members and veterans who want a branchless bank | USAA Federal Savings Bank | USAA's bank, part of the San Antonio-based USAA group, reported 9.6 million bank members in February 2026 and books its deposits at a single office; Frost is a branch-based bank adding about 15 Texas branches in 2026.[12][4][14] |
| Customers who want an app-only checking account | Chime | Chime's model avoids branches and ATMs; it had 10.4 million active members at June 30, 2026, and some members can use Jade, its in-app AI financial partner.[19][20][63] |
| Investors who want a large self-directed brokerage with AI tools | Charles Schwab | Frost Investment Services says it uses AI tools only for internal research and administration, not for advice or trades. Schwab gives all 33,000 employees AI tools and reported 11.9 million daily average trades in Q2 2026.[72][65][73] |
| Mid-sized companies that want an investment-banking-led commercial bank | Texas Capital | Texas Capital's investment-banking and advisory fees doubled to $32 million in Q1 2026, and it launched a mortgage-asset platform for financing, hedging and trading loans in May 2026. Frost's 10-K lists trust, brokerage and insurance services rather than investment banking.[16][74][1] |
Which banks have expanded in Texas against Frost since 2025?
Acquisitions and branch plans on the record, with dates.
| Bank | Move | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Frost | About 15 new Texas branches and 150 hires planned for 2026, after 10 opened in 2025; no bank acquisitions | January 2026[14] |
| Huntington | Veritex (Dallas) acquired; Cadence merger closed | October 2025; February 2, 2026[8][7] |
| Fifth Third | Comerica conversion: 293 banking centers in five states including Texas | September 2026[9] |
| Prosperity | Stellar Bancorp merger completed; 363 locations | July 1, 2026[6][75] |
| First Financial Bankshares | First full-service Austin-area branch (Bee Cave); 81 Texas locations | September 2026[76] |
Who are Frost Bank's biggest competitors?
In deposits, the national banks: JPMorgan Chase leads Houston and Austin, Bank of America leads Dallas-Fort Worth among branch networks, and Wells Fargo is second in Houston (FDIC, June 2025). Among regionals, Prosperity, Texas Capital, Zions' Amegy, BOK Financial and newcomers Huntington and Fifth Third. Frost's 10-K adds credit unions, brokerage firms and fintechs.[2][5][3][6][7][9][1]
Where is Frost strongest against its competitors?
In San Antonio, its home city, where it holds 7.49% of deposits through 35 offices, third behind USAA and Citibank, which each book deposits at one office. It is fifth in Austin (7.26%), sixth in Houston (2.30%) and eighth in Dallas-Fort Worth (1.57%), per FDIC data for June 30, 2025.[4][5][2][3]
Is USAA a competitor of Frost Bank?
In San Antonio, yes by deposits: USAA Federal Savings Bank books 53.04% of the metro's deposits at a single office, while Frost holds 7.49% through 35 offices (June 2025). USAA's bank reported 9.6 million members in February 2026 and serves them without branches.[4][12]
Which banks are entering Texas against Frost?
Huntington bought Veritex and Cadence, Fifth Third converted Comerica's banking centers in September 2026, and Regions runs 85 Texas branches. Frost's CEO said in August 2026 that some lenders were making structure-light loans, 'a bit of a race to the bottom', and that Frost would compete on relationships rather than volume.[8][7][9][10][11]
Is Frost bigger than Prosperity?
By deposit share in the large metros, yes: Frost holds 2.30% of Houston deposits and 1.57% of Dallas-Fort Worth's against Prosperity's 0.89% in Dallas-Fort Worth (June 2025). Prosperity's Stellar merger, completed July 1, 2026, took it to about $54 billion of combined assets and 363 locations; Frost reported $53 billion of assets at December 31, 2025.[2][3][75][6][77]
What are alternatives to Frost for small business?
Bank of America calls itself the number one US small business lender (FDIC data), serving 4 million small businesses, and leads Dallas-Fort Worth deposits; Square sells payments, point-of-sale software and banking to sellers. Frost competes on service: it ranked first in all eight dimensions of J.D. Power's 2026 Texas study.[25][3][24][77]
Who competes with Frost in wealth management?
Frost's 10-K names full-service and discount brokerage firms and wealthtechs. Charles Schwab, headquartered in Westlake, Texas, gives AI tools to all 33,000 employees; HilltopSecurities is a Dallas broker-dealer. Frost held $51.0 billion of trust assets at December 31, 2025, including $26.7 billion managed.[1][21][65][22]
- Cullen/Frost Bankers Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025
- Summary of Deposits, Deposit Market Share Report: Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX MSA, June 30, 2025 (retrieved 2026-10-19)
- Summary of Deposits, Deposit Market Share Report: Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX MSA, June 30, 2025 (retrieved 2026-10-19)
- Summary of Deposits, Deposit Market Share Report: San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX MSA, June 30, 2025 (retrieved 2026-10-19)
- Summary of Deposits, Deposit Market Share Report: Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX MSA, June 30, 2025 (retrieved 2026-10-19)
- Second Quarter 2026 Investor Presentation
- Huntington Bank Completes Merger with Cadence Bank, Expanding Presence Across Texas and the South
- On heels of two big deals, Huntington Bank sees Texas as 'springboard'
- Fifth Third Completes Comerica Technology and Brand Conversion
- Regions Financial Corporation Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2025
- Frost CEO warns of 'race to the bottom' on Texas loan structure
- USAA Federal Savings Bank bounces back after some tough years, regulator scrutiny
- Cullen/Frost Bankers 2026 Proxy Statement (DEF 14A)
- Frost Bank sticks to organic growth as Texas M&A heats up
- Streamlining commercial banking: Nancy McDonnell
- Texas Capital, buoyed by turnaround, to pay first-ever dividend
- Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025
- BOK counting on mortgage finance for a boost in 2026
- Chime Financial, Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025
- Chime Reports Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results
- Exhibit 99.1: Schwab Reports Record Quarterly Revenue and Earnings (Form 8-K)
- Hilltop Holdings Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025
- How AI is supporting bank mortgage growth plans
- Block, Inc. Annual Report 2025 (Form 10-K)
- Bank of America Fast Facts (undated page, retrieved 2026-10-19)
- Frost Bank exec: AI to usher in simpler mobile banking era
- Frost Bank Achieves 60% Increase in Digital Account Openings With Blend
- Early Production Results for Blend's Autopilot Show What Agentic AI Means For Lending
- Cullen/Frost Q2 2026 investor presentation (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1)
- Blend Honors Seven Customers With Best in Banking Awards at Forum 2026
- JPMorgan's Lake sees longer road to agentic commerce adoption
- 2026 Company Update Transcript - Chairman and CEO Q&A
- JPMorgan Chase blocks outside AI agents like Muse, Instinct from directly accessing accounts
- JPMorgan CEO Dimon warns customers of 'liability transfer' with AI
- JPMorgan warns of risks to consumers who rely on AI agents
- U.S. Treasury Announces Record Enforcement Actions Against Bank of America
- OCC Imposes $750 Million Assessment Against Bank of America for Deficient BSA/AML Compliance
- BofA fined $1.21 billion over AML
- Wells Fargo Reaches Major Digital Milestones
- Wells Fargo Enhances Banking Capabilities Using AI and Digital Assets
- Wells Fargo Reports Third Quarter 2026 Net Income of $6.0 billion, or $1.87 per Diluted Share
- System Upgrade
- Prosperity Bancshares Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026
- At Huntington Bancshares, the CFO is also the AI strategist
- Huntington Bank's plan to obtain a return on gen AI
- Banking on AI: Huntington's CFO on Innovation and Risk Oversight
- Coverbase Adds Third-Party Risk Veterans as Enterprise Adoption Accelerates
- Fifth Third at Barclays conference: Comerica deal lifts growth plans (transcript)
- Alum Spotlight: Jay Budzik (PhD '03)
- Regions Bank Says AI Lifts Productivity 20% as Loan Growth Cools
- Regions plans to unveil upgraded deposit platform in 2027
- 'Progressive modernization' for cores
- Texas Capital (TCBI) Q1 2026 Earnings Transcript
- Form 8-K: departure of Chief Risk Officer (Item 5.02)
- Zions' revamped tech leadership team eyes AI, stablecoins
- Zest AI Delivers Record First Half, Fueled by 77% Growth as Lenders Scale AI
- Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026
- Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2026
- Top Banks by Reputation 2026: Customers
- USAA takes an 'experiment and see' approach with AI
- Bank of America, USAA ink patent agreement
- USAA and BofA swap patent rights in first two-way deal
- What is Jade Financial Partner? (help centre, retrieved 2026-09-23)
- Chime Announces Agreement to Acquire Stride Bank
- Schwab (SCHW) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
- Charles Schwab's Amy Ruegg: AI Can Make Investing Easier, but Human Expertise Remains Key
- Public Finance Leaders Embrace Innovation While Capacity Constraints Persist, 2026 HilltopSecurities Survey Finds
- 2024 Tech Trendsetter: Kimberly Hartsough
- Square Brings Managerbot to More Sellers, Giving Main Street an Intelligent Business Agent
- Q2 2026 Shareholder Letter (Exhibit 99.1 to Form 8-K)
- JPMorgan Chase & Co. Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025
- Form ADV Part 2A - Frost Investment Services, LLC firm brochure
- Schwab Reports Record Quarterly Revenue and Earnings
- Texas Capital Launches MAP
- Prosperity to acquire rival Houston bank in $2 billion deal
- FIRST FINANCIAL BANK TO OPEN FIRST FULL-SERVICE BRANCH IN AUSTIN AREA WITH NEW BEE CAVE BRANCH
- For 17th consecutive year, Frost Bank ranks highest in the J.D. Power Retail Banking Satisfaction Study in Texas
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