Empire State Bank, one of New York’s vital financial institutions, has hired a new banking center manager for their Bay Ridge location.
Errol Novello, a banker with five years of experience working in the Bay Ridge community, was hired by Empire State Bank in late May, and has settled into the new role while enjoying connecting with local customers and businesses since his hire.
“It is a very small, tight-knit community bank,” Novello told Brooklyn Paper on June 23. “We’re not like a Citibank or Chase with thousands of branches throughout the United States. We’re pretty local and centralized.”
By staying small and localized, Empire State Bank is afforded the ability to care for and maintain the finances of all their customers with an intimacy and familiarity that larger banks are unable to replicate.
“What makes us stand out is our customer service,” Novello said. “From my experience, every customer that walks in, my staff knows very well. We are able to talk about ‘how was your weekend? How is your daughter? How are your grandkids?’ and so they really invest into our customers.”
This intimacy also serves to make banking easier for both the banker and the customer, with less “bureaucratic red tape” to navigate than most large banking institutions.
“It’s just a one-on-one conversation to have with a customer,” said Novello. “We just need to have a quick conversation about what the customer needs and 99.9 percent of the time it’s something that we can take care of right away.”
The smaller scale of banking that Empire State Bank undertakes also allows for local businesses and institutions to interact much closer with their bankers and allows for trust and partnerships to thrive.
“Literally my second week here, I was asked to attend a breakfast in support of the Boy Scouts which was such a great experience,” Novello said. “We do go to functions, support the local businesses, local organizations. I’m happy to be here and I look forward to working and ingratiating myself into the community and doing everything I can do to help.”
To learn more about Empire State Bank, visit their website at esbna.com
