by Jessica Ercolino, Staff Writer
ROBBINSVILLE — While many banks are facing financial crises with the current economic downturn, representatives of locally-based Roma Bank say their conservative lending practices and customer service practices have helped them prosper.
Roma officials this week said community banking has faired much better than bigger financial institutions during the recession, and Roma has been void of negative effects.
”When the market got hot, some banks loosened up their standards to take in more loans. People could go online and basically get whatever they wanted,” said Keith Pericoloso, chief operating officer at Roma Bank. “We’ve used the same lending guidelines that we have for many years. In the long run, it has worked out perfectly.”
Mr. Pericoloso said the bank has seen deposits rise as a result of increased Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. deposit insurance limits (up to $250,000) and customers depositing more savings into traditional accounts.
Roma is doing particularly well in mortgages and commercial lending, said Senior Vice President Marge Norton.
”There have been a lot of people waiting in the wings for prices of homes to get to a realistic number with a combination of declining mortgage rates,” she said. “We’re seeing people take that step into home ownership and we’re doing extremely well with mortgages this year.”
Throughout the last few years, Ms. Norton said, the bank has had only one home go into foreclosure.
”Other banks put people in houses whether they could afford it or not, which is a dangerous situation to be in,” she said. “If you cannot put 20 percent down, you shouldn’t be looking at purchasing a house.”
With regard to commercial lending, Ms. Norton said large banks are not meeting the needs of businesses big and small, and as a result, Roma has moved into commercial lending “at a pretty brisk pace.”
Roma Bank, founded in 1920, has 14 branches serving Mercer, Ocean and Burlington counties. One is located in Plumsted.
Of the bank’s nearly 200 employees, Roma has reported no layoffs as a result of the economic downturn, officials there said.
”What will change for the whole industry as technology continues to advance is less of a need for people, but at this point, we’ve been lucky,” said Ms. Norton. “We’ve managed to keep everybody very busy.”
In addition to conservative standards of lending, community banks have an advantage when it comes to customer service, officials said.
”We provide personalized services, someone to sit down with you and make suggestions for you to reach your goals in more measurable ways,” said Nancy Faherty, marketing consultant at Roma. “We counsel people through better borrowing and saving practices, rather than just having them fill out an online application.”

