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Banking
on Greenwich - USA plans new area branch USA Bank is poised to make its move into lower Fairfield County within the next few weeks with the opening of its main branch on the border of Greenwich and Port Chester, N.Y. The bank has put its Irving Avenue branch in Port Chester on the rental market as it prepares to move to its new 4,300-square-foot space at 601 N. Main St. -- just off Route 1 by the rotary circle that links Connecticut and New York, said Fred DeCaro Jr., the bank's chairman and chief executive officer. "We are going to attack the Greenwich market in the next 30 days," DeCaro said. The New York state-chartered bank also has formed a Greenwich-based mortgage lending subsidiary that will open in January, DeCaro said. The subsidiary, called USAMBA, will operate in downtown Greenwich at 36 Sherwood Place, said DeCaro. DeCaro founded the Stamford-based Patriot National Bank in 1991 and also served as chairman. The new subsidiary and the close proximity of its Port Chester branch to the Greenwich border will help pave the way into the lucrative lower Fairfield County marketplace. "It's the banking equivalent of a camel sticking its nose under the tent," said John Carusone, president of the Bank Analysis Center consulting firm in Hartford. "It puts the name of the institution in front of potential customers." "The bank is newly formed, has a lot of momentum, a full head of steam and a lot of capital. So it has alternatives," Carusone said. DeCaro said USA Bank is wasting no time planning a full-service branch in Greenwich, adding that bank officials are scouting out several potential locations in town. Plans call for the branch to be open within the first six months of next year. The bank has a head start because of the close ties it already has with Connecticut residents, he said. It was started with 54 founders, many of whom hail from lower Fairfield County. Those founders helped to attract 2,500 shareholders -- making USA Bank one of the largest banks ever formed. About 400 shareholders reside in Stamford and Greenwich, DeCaro said, adding that there is a sense of ownership among shareholders. "Since it is their bank, they are really helping us to grow it," he said. The bank started trading its stock under the symbol USBK on the Over The Counter Bulletin Board late last month.
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