Condo Media - May 2017 - 28

VENDOR SPOTLIGHT

Belmont Savings Bank
The New Kid on the (Condominium) Block
[by Pamela Schweppe]

In today's world, banking is a crowded field,
dominated by big players. So what can a community bank do to stand out from the pack? As the leadership of Belmont Savings Bank has discovered in recent
years, one thing a successful community bank can do
is zero in on various segments of the marketplace and
focus on how best to serve customers in that segment.
For Belmont Savings, one such segment is the condominium industry.
A BRAND-NEW BANK BUILT
ON A CENTURY OF EXPERIENCE
Founded in 1885 and headquartered in Belmont,
Mass., Belmont Savings Bank was a small community
bank offering a typical range of banking services for
about 125 years. Then, six years ago, Bob Mahoney,
a former Citizens Bank executive with 40 years of
experience, took the leadership role. He brought
in a seasoned team of local banking executives and
transformed Belmont Savings into one of the fastestgrowing banks in the state of Massachusetts. In that
time, it has grown from assets of $450 million to
almost $2.2 billion.
"We know we can't be everything to everyone, so
what we've done over the past six years is focus on
targeted segments where we feel we can provide a differentiated customer experience," says Edward Skou,
Belmont Savings Bank's senior vice president for business banking.
Commercial real estate is one of the segments Belmont Savings targets. As the bank expanded its commercial real estate portfolio, bank officers began making contacts with property managers, who introduced
them to the business potential of the condominium
industry. "It's been a natural evolution, where now we

"Being a smaller bank allows
us to be more nimble and
responsive to the market."
-Edward Skou, SVP,
Business Banking, Belmont Savings Bank
28

see the opportunity with homeowner associations,"
says Skou. "We like the business, and we like working
with property managers. So we began developing a
banking program for this segment."
DELIVERING SERVICE AND VALUE TO HOAS
To cater to the condominium market, Skou's team developed a strategic plan designed specifically to tailor
Belmont Savings programs for homeowners' associations and to make the bank attractive and convenient
for them. That strategy centers around four assets:
competitive rates, technology, fully insured deposits,
and dedicated service.
Competitive rates. When customers decide to change
banks, their first reason for doing so is typically rates.
"At the end of the day, customers want to get paid on a
deposit account, or, if it's a loan they need, they want a
competitive rate," says Skou. "Luckily, being a smaller
bank allows us to be more nimble and responsive to
the market."
In addition, the bank provides cash management
services at little or no cost-an important consideration for an association or a property manager. For
example, according to Skou, "If you work with your
banker, who understands more of what the needs are
for your reserves-whether it's money that's going
to be used for a roof in six months or put aside for a
snow-removal budget-based on that information,
we can provide rates for longer-term funds the association might not be getting if they're working with
a bank that's not having those types of conversations.
We're having those conversations all the time, to provide better returns on reserves."
Technology. If you think smaller banks are limited
in their technology capabilities in today's world,
think again. "As a community bank, we can purchase all the technology that the big banks have and
actually have an advantage in the game, because we
partner with vendors that are leaders in banking
technology for services like online banking," says
Hal Tovin, Belmont Savings Bank's senior executive
vice president and chief operating officer. "Larger

Condo Media - May 2017

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