When the Bank of Manhattan opens its doors on Wednesday it will have 20 employees and $22 million in capital. But the one thing it won’t have is a Manhattan address.
The newly formed bank is 2,800 miles from the hustle of New York, in the much less urbane environs of Los Angeles’ South Bay region. To be exact, it is located in El Segundo, although executives at the nascent financial institution said the back half of the bank is located in the neighboring city of Manhattan Beach.
Banking executive Jeffrey Watson and real estate executive Kyle Ransford, the organizers of the bank, said the name reflects both the institution’s community focus and big ambitions.
And it is a community focus, they said, that will distinguish the bank in the crowded and ever consolidating marketplace of financial institutions.
In establishing the bank, Watson and Ransford said they are responding to a dearth of community banks in the South Bay area.
“In the South Bay market, the number of locally owned banks is down more than half in the past 10 years,” said Watson, who is the bank’s president.
While the number of local banks has declined, according to the executives, bank deposits in the community have increased by 150 percent, making the area fertile ground for the start-up.
“The South Bay is an economically vibrant area and historically there were some very successful community banks in the area like South Bay Bank that were gobbled up,” said Thomas Tarter, a banking industry consultant at Sherman Oaks-based Andela Consulting Group Inc.
Bank of Manhattan will provide a full range of services to customers, but it will focus on small businesses those with two employees up to 50 employees and help them grow from the financial side, Watson said.
Ransford, who serves as chairman of the bank, said “Our focus will be providing a higher service banking experience where you can come in and know senior management.”
Watson and Ransford are actually taking part in what has been an increase in the number of bank start-ups across the country.
According to federal statistics, the total number of banks has decreased steadily in recent years, mainly as a result of consolidation; but there has been a gradual up tick in the number of new banks established each year.
In 2001, less than 100 new FDIC Insured institutions were formed, but each successive year that number has risen and in 2005, nearly 200 new institutions were established.
So far this year, two state-chartered banks, Golden Coast Bank and Stellar Business Bank, have opened in Los Angeles County. Bank of Manhattan is the first federally chartered bank to open in the county this year.
