Hollywood residents can take care of their financial needs at highly rated community banks where the customer and the community are top priorities.
At a time when some of the nation’s “too big to fail” mega-banks have been bailed out of financial difficulties while smaller banks are left to fend for themselves, an interesting trend has emerged: More and more people are turning to community banks as part of the fast-growing Move Your Money campaign launched last year. In the first three months of this year alone, an estimated 2 million Americans abandoned their big banks.
The nonprofit Move Your Money campaign, which encourages individuals and institutions to divest from America’s largest Wall Street banks and move to local financial institutions, poses the question, “What if ‘ordinary people’ shifted a fraction of their deposits to smaller banks?”
The project started from a discussion between nationally syndicated columnist and author Arianna Huffington and a few friends about how individuals could limit the power of the big banks and create a saner, more stable financial system. The solution: Move your money out of the “too big to fail” banks and into local banks that offer distinct advantages to the customer and the community in general. Community banks are typically more conservative about how they manage their money, closely connected to local people and businesses, more inclined to make loans they know will get paid back, and tend to have fewer fees and offer better returns for consumers.
Four Hollywood banks that have received high ratings from Institutional Risk Analytics (IRA) are BankUnited, Community Bank of Broward, U.S. Century Bank and Valley Bank.
BankUnited, which has more than 75 branch locations in 13 Florida counties, was established in May 2009 when a group of investors acquired the assets and most of the liabilities of the former BankUnited, FSB from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation with a $900 million investment.
A privately held company with $11 billion in assets, BankUnited focuses on the financial needs of growing companies, consumers, and commercial and middle-market businesses in Florida’s coastal regions. The bank, including the local branch at 4919 Sheridan St., offers a broad range of online services, treasury management tools for businesses, and traditional depository and lending products.
Community Bank of Broward, which has a branch at 4600 Hollywood Blvd. and seven other locations in Broward, is a reincarnation of the former Family Bank of Hallandale, a longtime financial institution that prided itself on its family-oriented attitude – a tradition that continues at Community Bank of Broward, where 64 of the 87 employees are former Family Bank employees.
“We call the employees family. When I speak to customers, I say, ‘Welcome to the family,’” said Hollywood branch manager Heather Keir. “It’s a friendly environment. It’s a great place to work and to bank.”
Community Bank, which provides a wide variety of standard traditional banking products enhanced by a high level of technology, is committed to giving back to the community through direct involvement in local charities, and all decisions are made locally.
“You call up and you get your banker,” Keir stressed. “We don’t have an 800 number.”
U.S. Century Bank, a locally owned and managed community bank since October 2002, adheres to the same philosophy.
“We are a family-oriented bank,” said Gerardo Mederos, manager of the Hollywood branch at 4350 Sheridan St. “We basically know all of our customers by name. They’re not a number.”
With 24 other branches in Miami-Dade County, U.S. Century Bank is dedicated to serving the financial needs of South Florida’s business and entrepreneurial community and has financed more than $1.5 billion in commercial loans to local businesses. In addition, bank officers are all local, and managers are encouraged to give back to the community through involvement in local schools and nonprofit organizations, Mederos said.
“And deposits are being reinvested into the local market, so therefore it benefits the community,” he added.
Valley Bank, which was founded in 1993 in Iowa by a group of local bankers and business professionals and expanded into Illinois and Arizona, was chartered in Florida in 2004 and offers five branches in Broward, including a Hollywood location at 3309 Sheridan St.
Valley Bank management attributes its steady growth to its founders’ commitment to “service with speed,” focus on customers’ individual needs and the hometown philosophy of employees at each location.
While Valley Bank is competitive with the mega-banks in terms of products, services and technology, the local emphasis in decision making, community involvement, and building and maintaining customer relationships is what sets Valley apart from the larger financial institutions, said risk management officer Beth Kroll, who also oversees business development and is past president of the Greater Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.
“Community banks typically cater to the small-business owner. Community banks understand the local economy, and they deliver relationship-building,” Kroll said. “It’s more evident in these economic times than it ever has been.”
