A strong foundation. A stronger future.

Founded in 1901 in Mart, Texas, the bank has a long and successful history of providing banking services to the residents and businesses of Central Texas.

Originally chartered as the First National Bank of Mart, the bank primarily served the agricultural community and merchants of Mart and eastern McLennan County.

After successfully serving the area for over ninety-four years, the bank leadership and ownership changed in 1995 under the direction of Monte Hulse. The new ownership, made up of investors from the Greater Waco area, changed the name of the bank in 1996 to The First National Bank of Central Texas. Leaving a branch in Mart, the headquarters was moved to 2040 N. Valley Mills Drive in Waco. At the time of the move, the bank had a total asset size of $23,000,000 and a staff of ten employees.

A new building at 1835 N. Valley Mills Drive and a seasoned management team quickly triggered dynamic growth for the bank. It became apparent that more locations would be needed to properly serve the Central Texas market. In 2002, another bank was acquired in Hillsboro to serve our good neighbors to the north. By 2004, we recognized that the rapidly growing China Spring area was in need of banking services and this soon became location number four.In 2008, the Board of Directors and management team agreed that a new location was needed to expand to the booming Woodway-Hewitt area of Waco. 

In January of 2021, Joe Barrow took over as CEO and Chairman of the Board. At the same time, Monte Hulse transitioned to his new role of Chairman of FCT Bancshares.

In March of 2021, the management team recognized the great opportunities in the Bryan/College Station area. They decided to open a Loan Production Office (LPO) to serve the needs of the community.

The First National Bank of Central Texas, with over one hundred employees, and an asset size of over $1.4 Billion, is poised for continued growth and fulfilling our mission of: “excellent service in a friendly environment for the prosperity of our communities.”