Photo courtesy of Cambridge Savings Bank
Ryan Bailey
President and CEO, Cambridge Savings Bank
Industry experience: 20 years
Age: 48
Cambridge Savings Bank might be well-known for its digital-only offshoot Ivy Bank but CSB is still expanding its branch footprint, too.
The official opening of the new branch at 734 Dudley St. in the Upham’s Corner section of Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood gives CSB 19 physical locations across the region. Along with being able to conduct transactions, the Dorchester branch will host financial education programs for individuals and small businesses.
Cambridge Savings Bank President and CEO Ryan Bailey says the bank will evaluate opportunities to grow its presence in the state, whether through more branch openings or merger and acquisition activity.
Q: Why did Cambridge Savings Bank think it was important to have a branch in Dorchester and what is the thought process behind strategy in terms of physical branches?
A: As a $7 billion bank, we only had 18 branches – pretty small for a bank of our size. Dorchester was the place we wanted to be. [It’s a] great community, we have people that work there, they’re from that area. And we didn’t have anything in the area.
Q: Is that small physical footprint due to CSB’s push to digital or do you feel that there’s growth opportunities to continue to build out a physical footprint?
A: It’s not that we don’t have a lot of branches because of digital. Digital is going to help us not to have to open in every community and still be able to serve them, although I still believe there is network equity of having a branch and having spaces in the community. We pride ourselves as a community bank being really close to our customers, so even if we don’t have a branch in the community, we generally have somebody out in the community. I think we will continue to look opportunistically where we want to expand, whether it’s through branches organically or through acquisition.
Q: How do you look to be active community participants?
A: There’s a lot of ways we do it. Dorchester, we were out in the community six months before we opened. We not only get out and meet people for banking reasons, we have a foundation giving around $2 million away this year to nonprofits. So, we want to make sure that community needs are met as well through some of our giving efforts.
Q: How does Cambridge Savings Bank look to innovate in terms of how it designs its branches?
A: One, we want to make sure our personal bankers are there as soon as the customer walks through the door. You don’t see large barriers – we are right there. We can go around and sit down and have a conversation with our customers. If they want to have a private conversation, we do have some more private spaces that you can pull them into. We definitely want to be there and be really close to the customer so we can explain the financials to them and help them with financial education. Our branches are definitely going to be smaller than they used to be. We don’t need a branch with 15 teller lines anymore. Generally, we have between three and four spaces for the personal bankers, plus several offices where they can have a more private conversation with a manager or an assistant manager of the branch.
Q: It seems like, when it comes to very complex transactions or very important transactions, people still very much like to meet in-person. How does Cambridge Savings Bank look to meet those needs for a digital customer?
A: The way we approach digital is not just simply to reduce cost. We look at digital [for] how we can augment customer experience. By that I mean we believe you should bank where you want. Whether you’re sitting in shorts on your couch at home, we want to be able to serve you through our digital properties, and we can do that through CSB as well as Ivy Bank. Whether you’re in Florida or Texas or anywhere in the country, Ivy Bank is there to serve you. CSB is more for the local community in Massachusetts.
Q: Are there any plans to expand the bank’s the physical footprint or are you more focused on the area you currently serve?
A: So we are set up to be opportunistic, and by that, I mean we have an extremely strong balance sheet. We’ve been building capital over the years. We have the opportunity to either grow organically. We’re also looking at opportunities to potentially acquire another bank that serves our needs, and we can actually provide their customers either better experience than we get today, or it will create a continuous footprint for us. We’re not looking at expanding physically throughout the New England area, per se, but we’re definitely looking for opportunities within these areas.
Q: In today’s banking landscape, being able to scale upwards is very important to starve off competition. What about Cambridge Savings Bank’s makeup allows for it to take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves?
A: I would say we are well positioned for that. We have a really strong balance sheet. We have a lot of capital. We are big enough to matter but small enough to care. It’s really important to us. I don’t want to ever be where we have 24 million customers. That’s not our game. We want to be part of the communities we serve and we want accessibility to people that can actually make the decisions for our customers. Where that line is, I’m not sure, but we do want to continue to expand, again, if we have the financial resources to do that.
Myself, I’ve been here almost a year and a half now. I’ve done acquisitions in the past. I also know what it’s like to be in a larger institution, and my leadership team I’ve built out, have a really strong leadership team to be able to do that. We have the right team in the right place right now to actually become a much bigger institution if we want to. We don’t need to, and we’re going to look opportunistically.
Bailey’s Five Favorites
- Favorite Overall Team: University of Michigan Football
- Favorite Local Team: New England Patriots
- Favorite Movie: “Miracle on Ice”
- Favorite Book: “Freakonomics,” by Stephen J. Dubner and Steven Levitt
- Favorite Food: Steak
