A new bank is preparing to enter the Charlotte market

Charlotte's banking sector is getting a new name, with Louisiana-based IberiaBank announcing plans to enter the market.

The Lafayette-based company said Tuesday it has hired Rotcher Watkins, former Charlotte market president for First Tennessee Bank, to hold the same role for Iberia in Charlotte.

Iberia plans to open a branch in Charlotte but remains in the process of finalizing a site to lease, Watkins said. He hopes the branch will be open by the end of this year.

The foray into Charlotte comes as Iberia in recent years has identified the Carolinas as a market where it wants to expand.

In 2016 it announced its entry into South Carolina with the hiring of an executive to oversee expansion in that state. Last year, it announced the opening of its first North Carolina location in Greensboro, and the hiring of a Triad market president to lead that effort.

Iberia was attracted to Charlotte in part because of its strong economy, Watkins said.

In Charlotte, with its many competing banks, Iberia will look to do business with commercial banking, wealth management, private banking and commercial real estate clients, Watkins said. But Iberia will also accept traditional consumer, or retail, deposits, he said — though "we're not going to be a major competitor on the mass market retail side."

"Even though you may find a lot of banks in the market, many times we specialize in different areas within the overall market," Watkins said.

Iberia adds to the list of new bank brands that have entered the city in recent years. In many cases, the appearance of those new names resulted from Charlotte-based banks being swallowed up in mergers and acquisitions.

Years of such consolidations have depleted the number of banks headquartered in the city.

A planned merger announced in January involving Charlotte-based NewDominion Bank will leave Charlotte with just one bank headquartered here: Bank of America.

The loss of banking headquarters is a major reason Charlotte lost its long-held title of nation's second-largest banking center to San Francisco.

This story was originally published April 17, 2018 at 5:15 PM with the headline "A new bank is preparing to enter the Charlotte market."