Encompassing over 80 branches, Apple Bank is large enough to offer top-quality banking services, yet small enough to do so on a personal level.
November 4, 2024
At the core of New York’s Apple Bank is a desire to build community through personalized, neighborhood banking for everyone, from a child opening their first savings account to an established real estate developer seeking to close a loan on a major deal. “Our strength as a bank comes down to scale and focus,” says Steven C. Bush, Chairman, President, and CEO. “I visit our branches often to talk with branch managers and get feedback from customers and employees on how to better tailor our services. We’re close to the lives of our customers as a safe and sound, privately owned financial partner that is eager to serve and can nimbly meet each of their unique needs. What sets us apart is our ability to remain community and consumer focused on a personal, one-to-one level, while offering the highest level of financial expertise and custom solutions that big banks do.”
Each of the Bank’s branches stem from the same community-centered seed—its origins planted in 1863. While each branch focuses on the unique needs of its customers and the community it serves, all locations share a common focus of personalized, compassionate banking, designed to care for those in need throughout every chapter of the region’s history.
“We are the reliable financial partner when customers need help,” says Bush. “We were one of the first banks to offer accounts to refugees from Germany in the 1930s and again to Ukrainian refugees in 2022. We serve with integrity. We’re not trying to sell customers something they don’t need—we want to treat them as neighbors.”
Whether offering financial literacy programs to youth and adults about managing money and creating a budget, hosting first-time homebuyer seminars for those interested in mortgages, or volunteering with a local nonprofit in support of community goals, each Bank location fosters a compassionate culture, donating time and money to make its neighborhoods better places to live.
“We have an obligation to build community,” says James G. Matera, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Retail Banking Officer. “Being embedded in a neighborhood where many of our branch staff also live, allows our branch team to get to know our customers, listen to their concerns, and go straight to the CEO and senior leadership team to create solutions.”
THE STRENGTH OF A TEAM
Apple Bank’s reputation is a product of an empowered team of branch managers and staff who listen to customers’ experiences, meet regularly to identify problems, and pass concerns up the chain of command to find answers. Tellers can see the impact of their feedback, which encourages them to speak up and make a difference.
With nearly everyone on staff, from the CEO to tellers, and various team members engaging with customers regularly, the Bank’s teams form bonds that often last for decades. It’s the one-on-one interactions that differentiate Apple Bank from big banks.
“We have customers who have been with us for generations,” says Bush. “Many of them start with a youth savings account as a child and continue to bank with us throughout their lives.”
LENDING A HAND
It only took a single visit to one of Apple Bank’s branches for Steven G. Ekert, Head of Commercial Banking and Chief Lending Officer, to understand the strength of the Bank. Not only did most of the customers know each of the tellers and branch managers by name, but there was a clear sense of familiarity and loyalty between them. They weren’t just talking to someone at their bank—they were talking to neighbors they’ve grown to know and trust.
“We take the same personalized service that we provide to our retail customers and apply it to commercial banking,” says Ekert. “Because people are people— whether they’re managing a business with large amounts of money or saving for their first home— everyone benefits from a personal connection with a relationship manager to solve their banking needs.”
The team is currently building its commercial deposit gathering and treasury services with first-class digital services that one would expect from a big bank. The services are designed for a variety of clients, but they are especially beneficial in providing commercial real estate clientele with the full suite of banking products they need for their business.
“Around half of our loan portfolio is in commercial real estate in the New York City metropolitan area,” Ekert explains. “We’re a $17 billion bank. Third parties look at us and are impressed at the credit quality of that portfolio, which hasn’t experienced a loss since our current leadership joined in the early 1990s.”
Lending capabilities are strengthened by a knowledgeable and experienced management team and committed active board members who get to know borrowers individually. “To be successful in commercial real estate means understanding the market and the people behind the properties,” says Bush. “Our senior leadership has been with the Bank for more than 30 years—they know the market and have been consistent through its ups and downs.”
The Bank’s personalized services make for a more familiar, safer banking experience. Because the team knows its customers personally, they often reach out to verify transactions to protect account integrity. They are there for clients through the ups and downs of the market, even providing guidance to people without an Apple Bank account who are seeking advice, helping businesses survive shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, and any other bumps in the financial road they may encounter.
“What I observed when I visited a branch for the first time was a successful bank with tremendous potential to build upon its success,” says Ekert. “Today, we’re building teams and hiring people with extensive experience in specialized areas, such as secured lending to private credit and equity firms, as well as more traditional areas, such as equipment finance and asset-based lending. We’re there when people need us and want to talk to someone they trust. We’ll walk them through their banking needs and help find solutions.”
“We’re big enough to provide what most potential customers need, but small enough to care for each of them personally,” adds Matera. “That’s been the overarching principle of the Bank since Steven Bush and I joined the team over 30 years ago, and it’s a value that will carry on long after we’re gone.”