Starting tomorrow, New Yorkers will have another alternative to the big banks taking care of their finances as Republic Bank will open its second location on 51st Street and 3rd Avenue.
Bringing a smaller banking experience to customers with a big bank capability has been the main goal of Republic Bank chairman, Vernon Hill. A legend in the finance world, Hill first got his start with Commerce Bank and hopes to keep this spirit alive with Republic.
“There are two different things,” explains Hill. “What the customer wants is a small bank, local bank feel. They want to know their bank. They want to know their bank and they want to be able to talk to somebody. But they want all the capabilities you would get from a large bank, such as Chase. So that’s all that our Commerce model was. A relatively small bank or at the end, Commerce was a mid-sized bank, but it had a small feel with all the big bank capabilities that the retail customers and commercial clients want. So that’s what we’re delivering already, and it seems to be working good in New York. Worked great for me last time I went to New York, so I hope I can repeat the same.”
This new location is the second location to open this year, with the first opening last July on 14th Street. With Republic staking a larger claim in the Metro area, Hill hopes to become a bigger part of the community with more storefronts planned in the coming year.
“When you go into a new market, you can’t go with one store, you have to go in with a number of them to cover the market,” says Hill. “[You’ll] look at these two stores open this year, with somewhere in the two to four range for next year. And my experience both in London and in New York, as we fill more stores that momentum grows for each one of them.”
Hill is already feeling the momentum start to build around Republic and it reminds him of his old days at Commerce. From where he is standing, he can only see great things on the horizon.
“People know our old brand from the days of Commerce,” says Hill. “A lot of them know me. So I would say we’re off to a very good start.”
For more information on Republic Bank, head over to myrepublicbank.com. This story was written in partnership with Republic Bank.
