Texas First Bank, a $2.4 billion community bank serving the Houston and Galveston region for more than 50 years, today announced the launch of embedded cross-border P2P payments inside its mobile banking app. Delivered by PayMitto and powered by Visa Direct, the new capability allows Texas First customers to send money internationally directly from the bank’s app, securely, quickly, and through a provider they already trust.

Texas First serves a region with deep international ties, from Houston’s diverse communities to the seasonal workforce that flows through Galveston each year. Many of the bank’s customers were already sending money abroad through wires or third-party providers, moving those transactions and the deposits behind them outside the bank’s relationship. The new offering brings that activity back in-house within an experience customers already trust, while giving the bank a way to keep international payments connected to its own digital banking relationship.

“As a community bank, our goal is to deliver a full-service experience that meets our customers’ evolving needs,” said Mary Williams, Vice President and Card Operations Manager at Texas First. “We know many of our customers are sending money internationally, and we wanted to provide a secure, fast, and cost-effective solution directly within the app they already trust. This is a powerful step forward in bringing global capabilities to our local community.”

For Texas First, the result is a cross-border capability that lives entirely inside its own app, along with a deposit relationship that many institutions lose to outside providers. PayMitto handles compliance and risk infrastructure, connections to global payout networks, and a user experience built around each bank’s own brand and digital environment. For community banks that serve customers with family, business, or labor ties abroad, that structure can make international transfers part of the same app experience used for everyday banking.

“Texas First’s launch reflects what PayMitto is building toward, a world where financial institutions of every size can bring international money movement in-house for their customers,” said Larry Hipp, CEO of PayMitto. “Texas First is one of several institutions implementing the PayMitto solution, and we expect to announce more in the months ahead.”

The new capability brings together three partners with a shared interest in Texas First Bank’s customers: a community bank with deep regional ties, a fintech built for financial institutions, and a global payments network with a decades-long relationship to the bank itself.

Texas First Bank recently opened its 27th location and continues to invest in services that bring more of its account holders’ financial lives in-house. The bank plans to grow its corridor coverage and customer adoption through the second half of 2026.