When Florida-based BankUnited entered the New York market five years ago, its bankers already knew all the inner workings of New York’s commercial market and were well-known in the region.
An all-star team of experienced bankers had been handpicked by John Kanas, current BankUnited chairman of the board and recent recipient of American Banker’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and current BankUnited President and CEO Rajinder Singh. Both men had held leadership positions at North Fork Bancorporation and the institution that later acquired it, Capital One Financial Corp.
Today, BankUnited is a major player in the region’s commercial banking industry. As of December 31, 2017, BankUnited, Inc. had total assets of $30.3 billion along with deposits totaling $21.9 billion, and delivered a strong return on average stockholders’ equity of 11.08 percent.
BankUnited’s New York portfolio accounted for $5 billion in deposits and $6 billion in loans as of the end of 2017. Most recently, BankUnited has seen the expansion of its corporate banking division with the opening of a New Jersey office and a Westchester office to further serve the tri-state market.
That phenomenal growth comes from a winning strategy of specialization, innovation, and creating strong client relationships.
“Our service level is aimed at what our clients need, not what we want to sell them,” says Joe Roberto, senior executive vice president and president of New York Banking Operations. “For example, we have created treasury management offerings to meet a particular client’s unique needs, and then made the product available to benefit others. We also pride ourselves in having a ‘high-touch’ model that distinguishes ourselves from larger competitors.”
Roberto has been instrumental in launching BankUnited into the New York market and is responsible for overseeing all of the New York banking centers, commercial private banking teams, and deposit operations.
“We are in a sweet spot where, as a well-capitalized institution, we are large enough to handle middle market credit needs of up to $50 million, but nimble enough to have the flexibility and customer service which larger financial institutions simply cannot provide,” Roberto explains.
BankUnited is leveraging its exceptional customer service to continue gaining market share as the financial industry transitions away from brick-and-mortar branches.
“BankUnited had six banking centers in the New York metropolitan area as of the end of 2017,” Roberto notes. “We like to say we bring the bank to you through our technology and bankers who are able to devote their talents and energies to you without the distraction of branch operations.”
BankUnited Executive Vice President for New York Commercial Banking Jeffrey Fliegel agrees.
“Business owners want 24/7, 365 access to their accounts and the ability to have the same experience at work that they have at home when managing their personal finances,” he says, adding that it does not lessen the value of the direct client relationship. “The majority of our relationships has followed our relationship bankers for years, or are the result of client referrals.”
Fliegel acknowledges that the strong economy has helped BankUnited and its clients. “New York is a great market,” he says. “We started with two and now have five teams devoted to New York City, Long Island, Rye Brook, and the New Jersey metro-area as well as a not-for-profit and education team.”
He continues, “The book of business has expanded from being New York-centric to extending to various states outside of the New York Metro area with an average loan size between $10 million to $35 million, which fits most middle market company needs.”
Fliegel notes that one-third of his clients are from owner-occupied real estate transactions, which along with the bank’s commercial real estate group are the market segments that have benefitted from new products developed by BankUnited’s National Deposits Group, led by Senior Executive Vice President and Managing Director Joseph Curran.
“National title companies, commercial real estate owners or managers, qualified intermediaries, lawyers, and anyone involved in transactions are clients who need a bank that understands their industry, has cash management products, and offers the benefits of a private bank in a commercial bank setting,” Curran says.
BankUnited introduced its eSolutions product to offer clients the ability to segregate client escrow funds and tenant security deposits into multiple sub-accounts and receive detailed reporting through a secure online banking portal.
BankUnited has also developed several products that many financial institutions don’t offer, such as image cash letter services in which companies can process a large number of checks and data together into a single file and transmit it electronically for deposit.
Curran, who began his career as a bank teller, says that experience has given him a unique 360 degree view of what makes banks succeed.
“The best compliment I’ve ever received was when a client said, ‘You really understand my business more than I do,’” he recalls. “I like to think we act more as your business consultant than as a banker. We were working with a title settlement business in Alabama and, in listening to their needs, we discussed a specific product we had built that would assist them with 1031 exchange transactions. That led the client to decide to launch their own 1031 exchange division. ”
One of the services the National Deposits Group offers is free educational seminars on relevant topics such as cyber security and battling cyber fraud that has been developed from experience working with outside agencies such as the FBI and Department of the Treasury.
“When was the last time your banker talked to you about the latest scams being used to make fraudulent transitions?” Curran asks. “We talk about it with every client. That’s our approach to banking. We’re not selling a product. We’re not selling a service. We’re selling a holistic approach to clients to help them protect and grow their business.”
BankUnited and its national platforms now have operations in 27 states and is ranked as the 19th largest SBA 7(a) lender in the United States by lending volume according to the SBA. In just five short years, BankUnited has become one of the New York area’s largest commercial banks.
Roberto reflects on BankUnited’s plans for the future saying, “We aim to continue our organic growth strategy. While we will work to increase market share, our focus on fostering strong client relationships will not diminish. We will be as committed to retaining our current deposit and lending customers as we will be in winning over new ones.”
Joe Roberto
Senior Executive Vice President and
President of New York Banking Operations
212-356-7626
Jeffrey Fliegel
Executive Vice President of New York Commercial Banking
631-454-4734
Joseph Curran
Senior Executive Vice President and
Managing Director of National Deposits Group
914-305-9427
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