Arvest Bank elevates Kevin Sabin to chairman; Matt Machen appointed president and COO

Jim Walton, board chairman of Walton family-owned Arvest Bank of Bentonville and Fayetteville-based Arvest Bank Group Inc., the holding company for the bank and several related entities, is taking on a new role.

In response to a Northwest Arkansas Business Journal question, an Arvest spokesman confirmed that Walton had appointed Kevin Sabin as the bank’s new board chairman. Sabin, based in Tulsa and the bank’s president and CEO since 2002, will continue as CEO and an Arvest Bank Group board member.

“As chairman and CEO of Arvest Bank, Kevin will lead and coordinate the activities of the bank’s board of directors and the company’s overall strategic direction and management,” the company said in a statement.

The bank also confirmed that Matt Machen, based in central Arkansas, is the bank’s new president and COO. He will oversee the technology and operations groups and direct the company’s daily business activities.

Machen was previously the bank’s regional executive of enhanced banking services. He joined Arvest in 2018 following its acquisition of Bear State Financial Inc., the publicly traded holding company of Bear State Bank. Arvest completed its all-cash purchase — for $391 million — in April 2018. At the time of the acquisition, Machen was president and CEO of the holding company and the bank.

The bank’s statement said the leadership changes are “designed to add additional management strength to the executive ranks as the bank positions itself for an exciting future of sustained growth and continual evolution.”

The bank indicated that Walton, 75, will be “active and involved” as a board member and remain chairman of Arvest Bank Group. Walton is the youngest son of Walmart Inc. founder Sam Walton, who bought the original Arvest branch, The Bank of Bentonville, in 1961 for about $300,000. The bank had about $3.5 million in deposits.

Today, Arvest Bank is one of the state’s largest. It has more than 200 locations that are part of 14 locally managed banks in more than 110 communities in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. According to the FDIC, as of Dec. 31, 2023, the bank’s total assets were $27.6 billion, and its deposits totaled $21.7 billion.

Arvest Bank had a net income of $1.9 million last year.