Apple Bank for Savings is a

savings bank A savings bank is a financial institution that is not run on a profit-maximizing basis, and whose original or primary purpose is collecting deposits on savings accounts that are invested on a low-risk basis and receive interest. Savings banks ha ...

headquartered in

Manhasset, New York Manhasset is an affluent Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island, in New York (state), New York, United States. It is co ...

and operating in the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York, is the List of cities by GDP, largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, gross metropo ...

History

19th century

The company was founded in 1863 as the Haarlem Savings Bank by a group of local merchants as a community-based mutual savings bank.

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

at the time was a suburban village - it was not part of New York City until 1873 - and the bank's first location on 3rd Avenue between 125th and 126th Streets was surrounded by farms and undeveloped lots. In 1869, the bank moved to a building of its own construction on 3rd Avenue and 124th Street.

20th century

In 1907, the bank moved its headquarters to 124 E. 125th St. In 1932, in the first years of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, the bank acquired Commonwealth Savings Bank and its 2 branches. The branches were on 157th Street and 180th Street in Washington Heights, Manhattan. In 1933, the bank dropped the double 'a' from its name to match the now-standard spelling of the neighborhood's name: Harlem. In 1966, the bank opened a branch in

, on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

as the population growth shifted to the suburbs. In 1968, the bank moved its headquarters from Harlem to 42nd Street. In 1981, in a deal organized by the

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is a State-owned enterprises of the United States, United States government corporation supplying deposit insurance to depositors in American commercial banks and savings banks. The FDIC was cr ...

that included a $160 million grant from the agency, the bank acquired the troubled Central Savings Bank. Created as the German Savings Bank in 1858, Central Savings Bank counted Daniel F. Tiemann, then Mayor of New York, as a charter member and operated out of the Cooper Union building before moving to a location at 14th Street and 4th Avenue in 1864. The acquisition gave the bank an additional seven branches including the Apple Bank Building at 2112 Broadway between West 73rd and West 74th Streets, a designated historic landmark designed by York and Sawyer in the Palazzo style of

Renaissance Revival architecture Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...

, as well as two branches in Nassau County on Long Island. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the bank continued to expand into the suburbs outside New York City. To reflect its geographic expansion, the bank changed its name to Apple Bank in May 1983. In 1985, the bank converted from a mutual savings bank to a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) co ...

, selling 4.6 million shares for $53.5 million in an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

. On December 31, 1986, the bank acquired Eastern Savings Bank, obtaining three branches in

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, two in Westchester, and two on

. In 1989, the bank acquired Sag Harbor Savings Bank and its 5 branches for $29.5 million. Sag Harbor Savings Bank was chartered in 1860 in Sag Harbor, New York to provide financial services for the

whaling Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...

industry. In 1990, Stanley Stahl, the developer of 277 Park Avenue, acquired the bank for $174 million. The purchase price was below the book value of the bank, and the bank initially rejected the bid and adopted a poison pill to prevent the takeover. Stahl fought the poison pill. Shareholders supported the merger after the stock price fell during the

early 1990s recession The early 1990s recession describes the period of economic downturn affecting much of the Western world in the early 1990s. The impacts of the recession contributed in part to the 1992 U.S. presidential election victory of Bill Clinton over incum ...

. In 1991, William J. Laraia became chairman and chief executive officer of the bank. Laraia reduced the commercial loan portfolio and cut costs significantly. In 1994, Alan Shamoon became the chief executive officer of the bank. In August 1999, Stahl died and ownership of the bank passed to trusts.

21st century

On April 20, 2013, Apple Bank acquired 29 branches and the related deposit accounts and services from Emigrant Savings Bank. This acquisition gave Apple a total of 77 branches in the

and close to $13 billion in assets. In May 2015, the bank opened a branch in the Jackson Heights section of

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

. In June 2015, the bank opened a second branch in the Bay Ridge section of

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, at 426 86th Street. In October 2015, the bank opened a branch in Monsey, New York. In April 2016, Steven C. Bush became chairman, president, and chief executive officer of the bank. In February 2021, Apple Bank was fined $12.5 million by the

for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act related to anti-money laundering controls. In May 2022, Apple Bank established an Equipment Finance Group, led by Ken Walters and a team of seven. The group was created to diversify Apple Bank's lending base and was part of its growing Commercial and Industrial lending practice. The move aimed to take advantage of the strong performance and protection that secured loans and leases offer across a range of credit conditions, particularly financing "Critical Use" equipment, which served as a solid asset class within C&I lending. Apple Bank's executive team selected Walters. The new platform at Apple Bank served the equipment financing market well, and it complemented the bank's range of secured lending and conservative portfolio. In September 2022, the bank expanded its branch network to 84 locations with the opening of a new retail branch in

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from portions of Ridgefield Township and the remaining portions of Engle ...

, which allows it to better serve

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

residents. The bank has remained profitable for 30 consecutive years. Steven C. Bush is the chairman, president, and CEO of Apple Bank, and James Matera is the executive vice president and chief retail banking officer. As of December, 2021, Apple Bank had $16.1 billion of assets and $14.0 billion of deposits.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1863 establishments in New York (state) Banks based in New York City Banks established in 1863 Privately held companies of the United States Privately held companies based in New York (state)