Things are moving fast for Bank on Buffalo. Less than two years ago they began as a start-up division of CNB Bank with a loan origination office. Today they announced their regional headquarters will be located at the Electric Tower in downtown Buffalo to accommodate their growing customer base.
Bank on Buffalo President Marty Griffith said but he doesn’t feel Buffalo has too many banks, but does think some banks may have too many branches.
“You are seeing signs of that with some of the larger institutions announcing some branch closures,” said Griffith. “But the smaller banks, especially ourselves, have made a commitment to building out a branch franchise. A lot of that branch franchise is being built off of the backs of offices that have gone dark as a result of recent mergers or acquisitions.”
Griffith said he doesn’t think there’s enough competition currently in the downtown competition. Currently they have three full service branches across Western New York. A Niagara Falls branch has also been announced. There is no current date for when that location will be up and running.
“The synergies that have surpassed our expectations as far as that growth rate and that run rate is a large reason why we are ready to make this commitment,” said Griffith. “We intended to make this level of a commitment from day one. I didn’t intend for it to happen in less than two years.”
Bank on Buffalo opened a full-service bank branch on the first floor of the Electric Tower in February 2017. The restoration of the seventh floor plans to be completed by this upcoming fall.
“We think that the opportunity in Buffalo is to, for lack of a better way to put it, lap up some of the spilled milk that was created by the exit of First Niagara Bank,” said Griffith. “They served a tremendous role in the community and in some ways I feel it’s a travesty they no longer exist. But it’s also an opportunity for us to fulfill that need and fill that gap in the marketplace. ”
