BBVA to unveil its brand of bank

Business Beat

By Marijke Rowland

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BBVA Compass is coming to the San Joaquin and all of California.

The Spanish bank will reopen 59 California branches (re-branding all the former Guaranty Bank locations) Friday.

The switch includes four Modesto sites as well as branches in Ceres, Turlock, Manteca and Merced.

BBVA, short for Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, is the second-largest banking group in Spain and one of the top 20 in the world.

In August the company bought Guaranty from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and began converting them to BBVA Compass branches.

Before its failure, Guaranty had 162 branches in California and Texas. BBVA Compass has been running the branches since its takeover.

All BBVA Compass branches will offer consumer and non-consumer banking including brokerage units, wealth management services, financial and retirement planning.

Guaranty has been open during the change, and all existing customers will switch automatically.

"They will see the same things they saw at Guaranty Bank, but we're adding more products and services for them," said Rosilyn Houston, regional retail executive for California.

BBVA Compass also specializes in Small Business Administration lending and was named 2009 SBA Lender of the Year.

BBVA Compass has its U.S. headquarters in Alabama. The bank currently has more than 600 branches in six states: Texas, Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Colorado and New Mexico.

"California meets all the growth potential — economic growth, population growth. This gave us the opportunity to get a toehold into the state," said Ed Bilek, senior vice president and director of external communications.

BBVA Compass retained Guaranty employees at its California branches.

The Modesto BBVA Compass branches are at 901 N. Carpenter Road, 3801 Yosemite Blvd., 3013 McHenry Ave. and 2601 Oakdale Road.

For more information, go to bbvacompass.com.

Elsewhere around the Business Beat:

Modesto's second Grand Buffet opens today.

The eatery, at the site of the former Asian Buffet at 2400 Coffee Road, is owned by Lucy Liu, who also runs the Grand Buffet on Oakdale Road.

Customers can order an assortment of Asian chicken, beef, shrimp and noodle and rice dishes off the menu or enjoy the all-you-can-eat lunch and dinner buffets.

Dine-in and takeout is available. It is open 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. every day.

For more, call 529-3999.

Have an item for Business Beat? Contact Marijke Rowland at The Modesto Bee, P.O. Box 5256, Modesto 95352; 578-2284; or mrowland@modbee.com.