|
 |
|
OCTOBER 14, 2005
A Different Kind of Bank is Coming to Cincinnati
Merchants Bank & Trust Expanding To Meet Needs of Customers
For more than 75 years, Merchants Bank & Trust, an independent, locally-owned financial institution, has been providing outstanding banking services to customers in the far western side of Hamilton County and neighboring Dearborn County. It is these same satisfied customers that have recommended the bank to their friends, relatives and business contacts in the Cincinnati area. As a result, the bank has built a significant client base in the eastern suburbs of the city. In order to better serve these customers, Merchants Bank & Trust is opening a new location at Hyde Park Square, on Edwards Road near Erie Avenue, on Saturday, October 29.
“The time has come for us to establish a physical presence east of the city, and Hyde Park represents an ideal location,” says Don Patterson, president and CEO of Merchants Bank & Trust. “We’ve been able to expand our business because we put the customer at the center of everything we do. We have a great respect for individual clients and our standards are always at the highest level. We also offer customers a full line of business and personal banking products.”
Over the past five years, Merchants Bank & Trust has virtually doubled its size, making it the fastest growing bank in Dearborn County, Indiana. In fact, from 2000 to 2005 the bank’s total assets grew by an unprecedented 86 percent. The bank’s closest competitor only experienced a 29 percent growth during the same period. To date, the bank’s total assets total $160 million. And, according to Patterson, the bank’s current business plan is to remain independent and continue expanding throughout the Greater Cincinnati area.
The bank’s recent growth began with the arrival of Patterson as the new CEO in late 2000. Patterson, who has prior experience “breathing new life into banks,” has been able to broaden the market appeal of the bank by changing its internal corporate culture and expanding its product line. This was accomplished while still maintaining the customer base that Merchants Bank & Trust had developed throughout the previous 75 years.
“We’ve focused our efforts on positioning ourselves as a different kind of bank,” says Patterson. “Whether we’re answering a telephone call or responding to a loan request, we
place the customer at the center of our delivery system. The goal of Merchants Bank & Trust is to not only meet, but to exceed customer expectations.”
This philosophy has definitely paid off with the acquisition of many satisfied customers. Lori N. Wellinghoff, president of DIGS (Design, Real Estate & Construction) recently chose Merchants Bank & Trust to service both her commercial loan (for DIGS new building under construction in Hyde Park Square) and all of DIGS other business banking needs. “We’re a home-grown, hometown, high-service business that went in
search for the same to support our banking needs,” says Wellinghoff. “Though other local banks and savings and loans vied for our business, none came to the table with the combination of great rates, smart products and high-touch people like Merchants Bank & Trust. I can’t say enough good things about this organization.”
Patterson says Merchants Bank & Trust provides products and services that other banking institutions offer…but with a difference. Telephone inquiries made to the bank’s main headquarters are answered by a customer service specialist -- no voicemail wasteland. Each call is personally handled until the customer’s inquiry reaches a satisfactory resolution. Banking hours have been extended to meet the needs of the individual communities it serves, and Merchants Bank & Trust offers free-of-charge access to more than 4,000 ATMs. And most importantly, localized decision-making speeds up the time it takes to complete a loan transaction.
Merchants Bank & Trust also has all of the conveniences of larger banking institutions, such as an on-line internet banking product that allows bill paying, monetary transfers, account maintenance and canceled check retrieval from the customer’s home computer. And, depositors are able to receive their monthly account statements via email.
“Customer networking has definitely been our most effective marketing strategy,” says Patterson. We’re very eager to be opening our new office in Hyde Park.”
|
| |
| |
| Top of Page |
| |
| |
|
|
