Growth strategies

The $45 million purchase will provide Peoples with eight branches and $244 million in deposits.

Big banks have plans to open hundreds of branches in new markets to add deposits, but smaller regionals have largely sought to hold the line on costs. Cullen/Frost Bankers' decision to double its branch count in Houston may be a sign that midsize banks are rethinking their retail strategy.

The change comes two months after the bank was spun off from its Venezuelan parent company.

The custody bank was very profitable, and it raised its cost-saving forecast for year-end, but its nearly 3% increase in third-quarter noninterest expenses prompted an investor backlash.

The Dallas bank has picked a bad time to shift from cost-cutting to expansion as big banks are in a commercial ending funk.