R.I. lending demand spurs branch opening
A Massachusetts-based mutual savings bank has opened its first full-service loan and retail branch in Rhode Island.
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Randolph Savings Bank, which has its main office in Randolph, opened a branch on Centre of New England Boulevard in Coventry.
Peter T. Pastore Jr., executive vice president/chief loan officer at Randolph, said there has been a strong demand for lending in Rhode Island over the past three years.
“Rhode Island has approximately 11 banks,” Pastore said. “And after the banking crisis, when institutions were closed, we saw a need for a presence there.”
The bank has a corporate headquarters and seven Massachusetts branches, with Canton and Stoughton being the closest to Rhode Island.
Randolph was making loans to Rhode Island customers out of its Bay State offices for three years, Pastore said. After having a loan office in East Greenwich for a year, that location blossomed into a full-service deposit gathering and lending center, said Pastore, a Cranston resident.
Loans made at that office were in the “multimillion-dollar range” and were a blend of conventional residential mortgages and commercial loans, Pastore said. Deposit growth over the past three months is what the bank budgeted for the entire year.
Randolph plans to open at least two more branches in Rhode Island by the end of 2006. The bank is considering locations in Cranston, East Greenwich and South County.
“Coventry will be the hub, the Rhode Island headquarters,” Pastore said. Satellite branches would rely on lending staff from that hub.
Eleven new employees, all Rhode Island residents, now staff the Coventry branch.
Pastore said Randolph will contribute to the state’s efforts to attract new businesses and employees.
“Just as it’s critical for the state to try and attract large businesses, the same theory should apply to small businesses. It’s a major generator of job growth,” Pastore said. “If we add two more branches, we could grow our staff to 20 or 35 people.”
Randolph’s move coincides with Waterbury, Conn.-based Webster Bank officially taking over the name of Swansea, Mass.-based FirstFed Bank last week.
Randolph was founded in 1851 and has retained the same name through that time period. Its entry into the Rhode Island banking market provides diversity to the scene.
“The state has a new financial institution that’s been around for 150 years,” Pastore said. “It offers more competition, which I think is critical in this era of consolidation.” The bank intends to become more a part of the fabric of Rhode Island in the coming years, he added.
Randolph is a “well-capitalized” bank with 9 percent capital. There are no shareholders and the bank works from a strategy aimed at long-term, steady growth.
“We don’t try to hit anything out of the park,” Pastore said. “We go for base hits.”
Another core strategy the bank employs is individual and personalized service, Pastore said, and the bank offers maximum quality pricing on its loan and deposit products.
The Coventry branch features an Internet café, a living room-style waiting room that allows customers to watch the markets.
