Historic Laredo

COMMERCE
BANK
Commerce Bank connects its clients to
a financial organization that represents billions of
dollars in assets, lending leadership, and international
ties that reach across borders with strength
and experience while maintaining friendly, personal,
first-name service.
Located in the heart of a mixed commercial
and residential Laredo community, Commerce
Bank has grown steadily by putting together the
best of both big and small banking and combining
its neighborhood partnerships with local,
regional, and international business resources.
A separately-chartered member of the $5
billion International Bancshares Corporation,
the fifth largest Hispanic-owned business in
the U.S., Commerce Bank shares a long tradition
of nurturing border business and international
trade with a variety of services, including
letters of credit, foreign currency exchange
and wire transfers. Commerce Bank has grown
from $15 million in 1983 to over $215 million
in 1999.
Under the leadership of President Ignacio
Urrabazo, Jr., Commerce Bank was an active
proponent of the North American Free Trade
Agreement and influential in its passage.
Commerce Bank’s international team of
bilingual, bicultural banking professionals
maintains strong personal and business
relationships with individuals and civic,
business, and government leaders in Mexico.
The recent post-NAFTA international business
expansion and its diversified needs have attracted
a growing number of transportation and
warehousing customers to the capabilities and
experience of Commerce Bank.
Customers benefit from Commerce Bank’s
membership in the IBC family, the largest financial
organization headquartered on the
U.S./Mexico border. Commerce Bank and
numerous IBC branches offer the advantage of
proximity to Mexico-related trade with locations
from Laredo to Brownsville and extending
to Houston, San Antonio, and the Gulf Coast.
Well known for its informed, local loan decisions,
Commerce Bank’s lending program also is
enhanced through its status as a Small Business
Administration Certified Lender.
Located at the intersection of Bartlett and
Saunders, in the medical center area, Commerce
Bank completed a major renovation of facilities
in the fall of 1998 to better serve its clientele.
✧
Top: Ignacio Urrabazo, president,
Commerce Bank.
Right: Commerce Bank’s asset growth
between 1983 and 1999.
76 ✦ HISTORIC LAREDO