Connecticut Bank & Trust, which opened its doors in May, operates this main branch in Hartford as well as branches in West Hartford and Glastonbury.
Customers of the month-and-a-half-old Hartford-based Connecticut Bank & Trust will soon be able to do more than deposit money and take out loans at their bank. The CBT, as it is known, earlier this week formed agreements with an insurance company and a trust company to begin to offer those services to its customers, said President and Chief Executive Officer David Lentini.
The CBT held its soft opening in mid-March and its grand opening at the end of that month. The commercial bank has its main office in Hartford and branches in West Hartford and Glastonbury. All three locations of CBT are now fully operational, according to a statement from the bank. As of June 7, the bank had deposits totaling approximately $7 million, closed loans and commitments totaling approximately $5.3 million and total assets amounting to approximately $24 million, according to the statement.
Lentini is pleased with the progress the bank has made so far, he said.
“We’re delighted with the response we’ve had,” he said. “Everywhere we go we seem to be warmly welcomed.”
The partnerships with the trust and insurance companies are the next step, he said.
“These are things that round us out,” he said.
The bank announced Tuesday it signed an agreement with the Hartford-based Trust Company of Connecticut to supply trust and investment management services to CBT customers. It also announced that it had signed an agreement with Glastonbury-based Smith Brothers Insurance to provide a full line of insurance products through its branches.
“These alliances are the latest moves in our strategic plan to offer a full range of financial services,” Lentini said in a prepared statement. “Our ultimate goal is to offer services similar to what you’d find at larger banks, but with the customer service you expect from CBT. We are most pleased to have these two fine companies, [which] are also known for their commitment to personal service, assist us in the months and years ahead.”
The bank’s executives have been planning for these partnerships since the bank was in its organizational stage and have been working on finalizing the agreements for weeks, Lentini said. Several customers have also inquired about insurance and trust services, he said. But because the bank is small and new, offering services like insurance or investment without a third-party partner would be difficult, he said.
Setting up a trust from scratch involves a lot of overhead, Lentini said, so forming a partnership made sense.
“This allows us to get into this [investment services] quickly,” he said.
The same could be said for insurance.
“It would be impossible for us to offer insurance services on our own,” he said.
The partnerships make sense to the bank because they can offer more services and are beneficial to Smith Bros. and the Trust Company of Connecticut because those firms gain more clients, Lentini said.
The bank’s executives also plan to offer investment brokerage services down the road, Lentini said. CBT also plans to bring comprehensive business cash management programs and its consumer online banking system to the market, according to the statement. These systems are expected to be running by July 1.
Barney’s Back
Operations at the bank have been going as planned by Lentini and the other executives, he said. There have been few surprises and they are pleased with the results of the bank’s first two months in operation.
“We’re doing pretty well,” Lentini said.
He said he believes the success has come from the use of the CBT name and from the bank’s emphasis on customer service.
The original Connecticut Bank & Trust was a $7.1 billion bank that folded in January 1991, along with its holding company, the Old New England Bank Corp. Lentini and the new bank’s director, Peter Shapiro, both worked at the old CBT. Shapiro bought the bank’s name several years ago when Fleet, which had purchased the bridge bank created when the old CBT failed, decided not to protect the name.
The old bank was well loved in Greater Hartford and the name is still widely recognized, Lentini said. The new bank also uses the old CBT’s logo, Barney. Barney, a bespectacled, bow-tied guy with a white ball as his face, graced the old bank’s ATMs. The new Barney, though he looks the same and still has a place on the ATMs and debit cards, has gone a step further. A bank employee dresses up as Barney for events and to bring attention to the branches.
The mascot marched in the victory parade for the University of Connecticut men’s and women’s basketball teams – where he was occasionally greeted by shouts of “Barney!” from the crowd, Lentini said – and hangs out around the branches committing what Lentini called “random acts of Barney,” where he will pump gas or put quarters in parking meters.
The cute factor has helped.
“Barney has been well received,” Lentini said.
Although the name and the mascot have helped the new bank crack the market – research showed that eight out of 10 people in the area remembered the CBT name – nostalgia alone is not enough. Reliable, friendly service is key to bringing in new customers to the bank, Lentini said.
