Insurance agencies eye BancorpSouth

“I’m sure that we will be offering insurance products at all of our locations,” said David Kunze, BancorpSouth’s Missouri president.

The company’s business model is to enter the insurance market in a community where it has a banking presence by acquiring a local independent agency with a solid reputation.

Richard Ollis, president and CEO of Springfield’s oldest independent agency, Ollis & Co., said he hasn’t heard that BancorpSouth is making offers locally yet, but he’s definitely keeping his eye on the situation.

Banks competing in the insurance business isn’t a new thing in Springfield, but thus far, the impact has been less than overwhelming.

The Springfield market has several banks that have their own insurance agencies, including Great Southern, Empire Bank and Regions Bank, but “none of those banks have been able to be a top contender in the insurance market,” Ollis said.

But he does not discount BancorpSouth’s potential.

“In our business it’s really all about people, and if they’re able to garner a great group of people on their insurance agency side, then certainly that would be something that would concern the marketplace,” Ollis said.