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Brick & Mortar Still Popular
Proving that old fashioned brick and mortar banking is still in style, in spite of the Internet movement, Patriot National Bank recently announced that it had surpassed the $150-million-asset milestone in just five years of existence. The bank, which claims to be one of the fastest growing national banks in the nation, has only three full service offices in Connecticut. Its assets grew 50 percent in the first nine months of 1999.
Nine Good Reasons
The banks says there are at least nine good reasons it has been so successful.
- It does the opposite of what big money center banks are doing, by hiring local people, living by "the customer is always right," and visiting customer locations to do business.
- It's the most convenient bank in the area. Offices are open six days a week from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. weekdays and to 2:30 p.m. Saturday; "real persons" answer the phone 11 hours a day, the bank has no voice mail, and it counts deposits on each day as if they were deposited up to closing time.
- It has a local shareholder base that does business with the bank.
- It has a 120-person advisory board that represents the community and meets with senior management and employees four times a year.
- It employs people who know the market area because they live there and are shareholders.
- Senior management access is encouraged at any time.
- It approves loans in two business days.
- It passes the savings from having only a small number of branches on in the form of higher deposit rates.
- A merger was successfully completed with another fast-growing local company - Pinnacle Financial Corporation, a mortgage company.
Copyright © 1999 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 9, No. 11, 11/99
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