Dollar Bank is a full-service regional bank serving both individuals and business customers, operating more than 60 offices throughout the southwestern Pennsylvania and northeast Ohio metropolitan areas. The bank’s Pennsylvania headquarters is located in downtown Pittsburgh and Ohio headquarters is located in downtown Cleveland. Dollar Bank is the largest independent mutual bank in the nation as of March 2016.
History
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Founding
Beginning July 19, 1855, Charles A. Colton opened the "Pittsburgh Dollar Savings Institution". The first day's deposits totaled $53. On September 4, 1858, Pittsburgh Dollar Savings Institution was renamed "The Dollar Savings Bank."
First Office
The Dollar Savings Bank’s Fourth Avenue Building was opened in March 1871 and is still in operation today. The architect was Isaac H. Hobbs & Sons of Philadelphia. The building was constructed using 1,400 tons of brownstone, quarried in Connecticut, pink Quincy Granite and significant amounts of Marble and Brass.
In 1871, two stone lions were placed at the front door of the Fourth Avenue Building, as symbols of guardianship of the people’s money. The stately lions guarding the entrance were sculpted by Max Kohler, each from a single block of quarry-bedded brownstone. A project to restore the lions began in September 2009 and was completed in June 2013. The two new exact replica lions were created by Master Carver Nicolas Fairplay. The original lions sit inside the Fourth Avenue building.
The Board Room was added to The Dollar Savings Bank’s Fourth Avenue Building in 1896 at a cost of $37,981.
In 1906, the East and West wings were added to The Dollar Savings Bank’s Fourth Avenue Building.
Today, the Dollar Bank Heritage Center in the Fourth Avenue Building contains displays of vintage banking machines, Dollar Bank advertising through the decades, oil portraits and photographs of the Bank’s officers and Trustees, and hand-written ledgers featuring the original signatures of some of the Bank’s early depositors.
The Great Depression
During the 1930s, the main lobby was redecorated. Lighting fixtures were replaced, the teller counter altered and the interior repainted.
In 1931, $1 million in cash was brought to the bank office floor to prove the availability of customers' funds during the depression. During this difficult economic time, The Dollar Savings Bank never closed. On November 1, 1949, The Dollar Savings Bank had assets at book value of over $100 million. In 1938, the original vault in The Dollar Savings Bank’s Fourth Avenue Building was relocated to the basement of the building to make room for the Trustee Boards Anteroom.
The vault was installed after the St. Patrick’s Day Flood of 1936, which devastated downtown Pittsburgh. The Dollar Savings Bank wanted a new vault that was not only fireproof but also flood-proof.
Expansion
The Dollar Savings Bank bought the Boyd Building in February 1950. The bank used the first two floors of the space and the rest of the building was leased.
In 1956, The Dollar Savings Bank purchased the DeRoy Building and converted the first floor for bank use, expanding the Fourth Avenue Building footprint. This building was demolished in 1970 and the space became a pedestrian plaza.
In the 1960s, Fourth Avenue Building’s cupola skylights were filled in, the interior was repainted and the teller counter was altered to make it one level surface.
Early technology
The Dollar Savings Bank opened its first branch office on June 29, 1961, in the Oliver Building and entered the computer age with its first online electronic bank accounting system in Pennsylvania and one of the first ten in the United States on November 30, 1964.
In 1976, The Dollar Savings Bank introduced pay-by-phone as the first bill payment system of its kind in Pennsylvania and second in the United States. The Dollar Savings Bank reached $1 billion in assets and on July 14 of that year The Dollar Savings Bank's Fourth Avenue Office was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Dollar Savings Bank installed its first automated teller machine (ATM) in 1977 and in 1978 free retail checking accounts, called "NOW accounts", were offered for the first time. In July 1981, The Dollar Savings Bank began to offer accounts and services tailored to the needs of businesses.
Market expansion
On September 20, 1984, The Dollar Savings Bank acquired Continental Federal Savings and Loan Bank and offered banking services to the Cleveland, Ohio, area. In a deal brokered by the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, The Dollar Savings Bank acquired the troubled Cleveland-based thrift and within two years, a combination of government guarantees against losses and new investment returned Continental to profitability. That same year, Continental's name was changed to Dollar Bank and The Dollar Savings Bank was renamed to "Dollar Bank". Dollar Bank began offering term loans, lines of credit and Credit cards in 1986.
The first Dollar Bank Loan Center was opened in Murrysville, Pennsylvania, on January 18, 1994. Dollar Bank's "Win-Win Home Equity Adjustable Rate Loan" was launched as the first loan of its kind in March 1994. Dollar Bank became the 16th bank in the country to offer online banking via the Internet in March 1997. Dollar Bank initiates the "Freedom ATM Alliance®" surcharge free network, a group of 29 banks that joined together on January 4, 1999. The goal of the Alliance is to provide surcharge-free ATM alternatives to customers. Banks entering the Alliance agree not to surcharge the customers of any other Alliance member at their ATMs.
National recognition
On April 6, 1998, the Dollar Bank online banking service was inducted into the 1998 Computerworld Smithsonian Innovation Collection.
Product development
In January 2005, the Dollar Bank CD Ladder was launched as the first CD of its kind. Laddering is based upon the premise of not putting all money in a single CD. By dividing money between CD terms ranging from short to long, CDs with a range of yields that reflect market expectations for the future direction of interest rates are purchased.
Dollar Bank was the first to offer text messaging on June 19, 2007, and mobile online banking was introduced on June 5, 2008.
On March 11, 2009, Dollar Bank introduced reverse mortgages to provide financial help to seniors.
Recent developments
In July 2012, Dollar Bank was the first financial institution in the region to release video personal teller machines. This allows customers to speak to a live teller during non-traditional banking hours.
On July 19, 2005, Dollar Bank celebrated 150 years as a financial institution.
On June 5, 2007, Dollar Bank elected new Chief Executive Officer, Robert Oeler. A 34-year employee of the bank, Mr. Oeler became President and Chief Operating Officer in April 2007. Prior to that, he held the title of Executive Vice President since 1992.
Dollar Bank opened a new Ohio headquarters at The Galleria at Erieview in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 28, 2008. The new two-story, glass-enclosed structure at East Ninth and St. Clair measures 21,000 sq ft (2,000 m2). The new space houses a branch office, a Private Banking Center and a training facility on the first floor, with retail operational support on the second. Opened in early August, the new facility anchors the Galleria and revitalized one of Cleveland's most prominent urban centers.
In 2015, Dollar Bank celebrated its 160-year anniversary.
In March 2016, Dollar Bank opened a WIPO UDRP case against the owner of the domain name DollarBankAccount.com. The case was defended by the owner and ultimately DollarBankAccount.com was found to have been lawfully registered and the claim for the domain to be turned over to Dollar Bank was rejected.
On November 1, 2015, James J. McQuade was appointed as the bank’s new President. Mr. Oeler remained the CEO until his retirement on May 31, 2016, at which point Mr. McQuade become President and CEO. Mr. McQuade has 27 years of banking experience, 20 of them with Dollar Bank. He previously served as the bank’s Executive Vice President of Retail Banking.
On May 18, 2016, Dollar Bank launched a new website on the .BANK domain at dollar.bank. .BANK is a more secure Internet domain for banks that allows them to better protect online visitors. Since the .BANK environment is exclusive to the banking industry, it provides a level of mandatory security, unmatched in the traditional .COM Internet environment.
On June 28, 2016, Dollar Bank announced that they had agreed to merge with Virginia-based Bank @lantec. Both institutions are mutual banks. Dollar Bank will retain all Bank @lantec employees and will continue to operate all four Virginia bank offices. Dollar Bank's asset size will grow to over $7.5 billion.
On October 5, 2016, Dollar Bank announced that they had agreed to merge with Pennsylvania-based Progressive-Home Federal Savings and Loan. Both institutions are mutual banks. Dollar Bank will retain all Progressive-Home Federal Savings and Loan employees and will continue to operate the two branch offices in Allentown and Dormont. Following the merger, Dollar Bank's asset size will grow to over $7.6 billion.
Operations
During the first half of the 2016 fiscal year, Dollar Bank showed continued strength and growth as a full service financial institution meeting the banking needs of the community for more than 160 years. Dollar Bank’s core capital amounted to $843 million, or 11.40% of its average total assets.
Business banking
Dollar Bank’s corporate and small business products and services include checking and savings accounts and financing, cash management, leasing, private banking, real estate lending and business credit cards. Dollar Bank business services include the CashANALYZER® Management System to access accounts through the Internet or direct dial via modem.
Subsidiaries
Dollar Bank has several subsidiary businesses, including:
- Dollar Bank Servicing Center services loans and mortgages
- Dollar Bank Insurance Agency, Inc., provides term life insurance products
- Dollar Bank Settlement Service, Inc., provides title related services to Dollar Bank's customers for real estate transactions, both commercial and residential
Notable buildings
Pittsburgh
Dollar Bank's official headquarters is currently at Three Gateway Center, 401 Liberty Avenue in Downtown Pittsburgh. Its old headquarters building at 340 Fourth Avenue in Pittsburgh is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
References
External links
- Dollar Bank website
- Regional Showcase at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh
- Bank @lantec website