Flourishing In Queens With Bigger Plans For The Future

While Flushing Savings Bank has continued to flourish in the Queens market, the company has even bigger plans for its future.
&#8220I think we have a very good opportunity to do several things with this bank,” said Flushing Savings Bank President and CEO John R. Buran, who has been in his current position for just over a year, but has been with the company for six years after joining the company as COO. &#8220One is to continue to work within the multi-cultural communities that we have, particularly within Queens. The Queens market has been a very positive and very lucrative market for us.”
Currently, Flushing Savings Bank has seven full-service banks throughout Queens with their new branches scheduled to open in Forest Hills and Flushing during the first quarter of 2007. These two branches will be the first new banks the company has opened since the debut of its Bayside branch located on Bell Boulevard earlier this year.
&#8220Bell Boulevard has always been an area that we had our eyes on,” Buran said. That whole strip is a very, very popular shopping strip. It not only houses what looks to become a very successful branch, but it also had enough space to put our new business bankers into.”
Although the Bayside branch has been open for less than six months, executives are thrilled with the progress it has made in such a short amount of time.
&#8220We opened up our Bell Boulevard branch in May of this year, and it is exceeding our expectations and our budget with respects to its growth,” Buran said.
In addition to its plans for opening additional branches, Flushing Savings Bank has also announced a new initiative that it plans to unveil sometime in the fourth quarter of 2006 - the launch of its Web-only banking unit - which will be administered under the site igobanking.com
&#8220It will draw business nationwide,” Buran said. &#8220We will start regionally, but we will draw that business nationwide. It's our entre into what we believe will be a very important part of the banking business in the future.”
Buran said that the target market for the Web-only banking unit is individuals 30-55.
&#8220We feel that this is a segment that will continue to do more and more online as long as they feel it can be a safe, secure environment.”
Throughout the development of this initiative, Flushing Savings Bank has taken many steps and safety procedures to ensure that when the Web-only unit is launched, user's identities will be protected, and their banking experience will be trouble-free.
&#8220I think it is very clear that this business will move in that direction, not every aspect of it, but clearly there is a whole segment and a growing segment of the population who is very comfortable doing their business on the web,” Buran said.
However, Buran said the launching of the Web-only banking unit does not mean the full-service branches will suffer.
&#8220The Flushing brand name will continue to be our bricks and mortar brand.”
Although Buran termed last year as challenging for the bank with the continued increase in interest rates putting a squeeze on profit margins, he said the overall business is extremely healthy.
During the year, the company brought in a number of business bankers with a background in the commercial banker sector to augment the very strong commercial real estate business, and increased its volume while continuing to diversify its product, which is part of the company's ultimate goal, according to Buran.
In addition, they have continued to develop their lending and providing services to small business, which they hope will continue to make the business well rounded in the upcoming years.
This past June, Flushing Financial Corporation, the parent holding company for Flushing Savings Bank acquired Atlantic Liberty Financial Corporation, the parent holding company for Atlantic Liberty Savings, F.A., a company that has assets of nearly $2.6 billion and 12 branches. Flushing Financial issued approximately $1.6 million shares of its common stock and paid cash of approximately $14.7 million to Atlantic Liberty's stockholders in the transaction, representing merger consideration of approximately 65 percent stock and 35 percent cash.
&#8220This acquisition will significantly enhance our franchise. Atlantic Liberty’s Montague Street branch is in the hub of the Brooklyn business community and provides a great platform for our continued growth in Brooklyn. The Avenue J location is in a neighborhood where we already have a significant lending presence,” Buran said at the time of the transaction.
&#8220We believe our larger size and greater breadth of product offerings will enable us to provide an enhanced level of service to the Atlantic Liberty customer base, while expanding our growth opportunities in the attractive Brooklyn market,” he continued.
While the bank continues its successes, it also strives to remain involved in and give back to the communities it serves. Buran said that the bank prides itself on communicating with its customers so their employees speak more than 30 different languages, sit on boards of many organizations, makes presentations at seminars and sponsors a number of community events.
&#8220We consider ourselves to be a community bank, and one of the hallmarks of a community bank is being concerned about what is happening with the community,” Buran said. &#8220Knowing who your customers are, and your customers knowing that you support the community that they live in and do business in; it goes a long way.”
Buran said it is the close, personal service that customers receive that separates Flushing Savings Bank from some of its larger competitors. Customers often interact with high-level bank executives, and the decisions the company makes are local ones.
&#8220We know the business very well,” Buran said. &#8220We see our customers everyday. It makes for a much closer relationship.”
Flushing Savings Bank is looking forward to the future with the opening of the new branches, the launch of its Web-based unit and continuing to increase the number of services it offers to its customers.
&#8220I see continued growth in terms of our bricks and mortars branches, and I also see an evolution of the branch into an environment that emphasizes a closer level of service,” Buran said.