Bar Harbor Bank & Trust dips its toe in Portland market
Two former NBT Bank executives, Daryl Wentworth and Joe Delano, have joined Bar Harbor Bank & Trust and will work out of the planned commercial loan office in Portland.
This will be the Bar Harbor-based bank's first brick-and-mortar site in Cumberland County. A wholly owned subsidiary of Bar Harbor Bankshares (NYSE American: BHB), Bar Harbor Bank & Trust operates 49 branches in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. It is the only Maine-based bank with a presence in all three states. The bank is headquartered in Bar Harbor and has assets of over $3.5 billion, making it the third-largest Maine-based bank. Two years ago, it acquired Lake Sunapee Bank of New Hampshire.
Any banker will tell you Cumberland County market is already well-served on the retail-banking side, with 121 branch offices and $9.29 billion in deposits, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data through June 30. Three banks control 55% of the market (see sidebar).
Bar Harbor Bank & Trust's commercial loan office will give it a foothold in the commercial lending market in southern Maine without getting into the rough-and-tumble retail marketplace. Topsham is Bar Harbor's closest retail branch to Portland.
“This is part of our continued strategy of targeted expansion while advancing market share to include relationship-based ancillary product sales. As a result, treasury and derivative sales as well as wealth management offerings will be included,” President and CEO Curtis Simard said in a press release.
The Portland office will be led by Wentworth, who most recently served as a regional commercial banking manager at NBT in Portland. Previously, he worked for KeyBank, State Street Bank and Citizens Bank. Delano was a senior commercial relationship manager for NBT's Portland office.
Business loans made online, in a day
Camden National Bank launched BusinessTouch, an online loan application system that promises to speed up the borrowing process for businesses.
The system provides instant decisions on loans of up to $75,000 and lines of credit of up to $25,000.
Once the loan is approved, the customer works with a business lender at the bank to fund the loan, a step that can be accomplished in as little as one business day.
The bank claims it is the first to offer such a service. It has a related service, MortgageTouch, which speeds the mortgage application process to as little as 15 minutes.
“BusinessTouch and MortgageTouch are investments we're making in our digital platform to serve the needs of small businesses and individuals,” Greg Dufour, president and CEO, said in announcing the recent product. “These product introductions are the result of developing relationships with strong FinTech partners who understand the unique capabilities of a community bank.”
Camden National (NASDAQ: CAC) is the largest bank based in Maine, with $4.2 billion in assets and 60 branches.
Most Recent
Most Recent
Comments