Oklahoma banks that have chosen to receive funds through the government's Capital Purchase Program are doing so for various reasons, including loan growth.

By the end of April, five Oklahoma banks had received a combined total of more than $109 million in capital from the government through the Department of Treasury.

Roger Beverage, president and CEO of the Oklahoma Bankers Association, said he spends a lot of time explaining that this government program isn't a "bailout" as some assume, but an investment for which banks are paying a good rate to accept the money.

Some confusion exists, bank officials say, because the CPP is administered by the Troubled Asset Relief Program. TARP was established last year as the government sought ways to stabilize the financial and banking system and support the economy.

Through the program, the government makes investments directly into banks to be loaned back into the community. The reality is that this money is going to be put to work in the communities where the banks are, Beverage said.

"It is an investment by the government that is paying pretty good dividends to the taxpayers. ... No banks should be looked upon adversely because they are participating in the program," Beverage added.

Some large institutions such as Bank of America were instructed to take the capital, but others have voluntarily chosen to participate, Beverage added.

Southwest Bancorp Inc., the parent company of Stillwater National Bank & Trust Co., is the only Oklahoma-based publicly traded banking firm that chose to participate in the program. It has received $70 million.

The capital supports loan growth and helps the bank continue to be a reliable source of lending, said Jerry Rackley, SNB's executive director of corporate marketing.

"When you're well capitalized, you have stability," he explained. "We feel like we have stability because of the surplus capital, and it's pretty nice to have it in a time of uncertainty like this."

He added that the bank was well capitalized prior to participating in the program.

Early last year, the bank company tried raising capital to support its strategic goals. It had a public "shelf offering" and went to the market and raised $34.5 million, which was about half of what it wanted.

Southwest evaluated the government's CPP and realized that was probably the best way to get the remaining capital it wanted because demand for bank stock, in general, had dried up in middle to late 2008, Rackley said.

"I feel like there is a bit of a misunderstanding in the public and understandably because so much information has been released from lots of different sources. ...