WSFS Financial Corporation is a financial services company. Its primary subsidiary, Wilmington Savings Fund Society, commonly called WSFS Bank, is the oldest bank and trust company headquartered in Delaware. WSFS operates from 56 offices located in Delaware (45), Pennsylvania (9), Virginia (1) and Nevada (1) and provides financial services including commercial banking, retail banking and trust and wealth management. Other subsidiaries or divisions include Christiana Trust, WSFS Wealth Investments, Cypress Capital Management, LLC, Cash Connect®, Array Financial and Arrow Land Transfer. WSFS's Cash Connect® subsidiary provides ATM support services across all 50 states for more than 15,000 ATMs. Cash Connect operates the second largest ATM servicing platform in the United States. In operation in the Delaware Valley since 1832, WSFS Bank is the seventh oldest bank in the United States continuously operating under the same name.
History
Early history
Wilmington Savings Fund Society was chartered as a Delaware thrift in 1832 by a group of Wilmington community leaders and businessmen. The bank was formed for the working citizens of Wilmington to encourage thrift, and safeguard and increase their savings in a community bank. The bank's first day of business was February 18, 1832, in a rented room "one door below" Town Hall on Market Street. The bank grew steadily through the 19th century, and moved locations twice more before constructing their own building at 838 N. Market Street in 1895. The building stood until 1929, when the current building was constructed and opened for business. Three years later the building would receive its landmark mural, Apotheosis of the Family by N. C. Wyeth. The mural, 60'x19', was commissioned by Frederick Stone to celebrate the bank's 100th anniversary, and a smaller version of this mural still hangs in the bank's new headquarters at 500 Delaware Avenue in Wilmington.
1950s to early 1990s
WSFS's growth continued in the 1950s and 60s, and was the first bank in the United States to issue debit cards in the late 1960s. By the 1980s, WSFS had expanded from northern New Castle County into Kent and Sussex counties, and went public in March 1990 on the NASDAQ market. By the early 1990s the bank was in poor financial shape, and was near bankruptcy. The Board of Directors hired Marvin "Skip" Schoenhals in 1990, and began a dramatic turnaround. Nearly all of the lower Delaware branches were sold to Wilmington Trust, and lending practices and credit quality were administered more closely.
Mid-1990s to present
Over time, the bank gradually strengthened and was reintroduced to Kent County and Sussex County. In 1995, WSFS Bank opened its first branch in Kent County since the 1991 closings in the new Dover Metro Supermarket. The first new branch in Sussex County since the closings opened in Rehoboth Beach in July 2003 and moved to its current location in June 2004. New branch locations have since opened in Camden, Lewes, Long Neck, Milford, Millsboro, Ocean View, Seaford, Selbyville, Smyrna and West Dover.
WSFS Bank has the largest ATM network in Delaware. The bank has ATMs located in all Delaware Walgreens pharmacies. Fee free ATMs are also located in most Grotto Pizza locations, Walmarts, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Food Lion locations. There are over 450 WSFS-owned ATMs in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
In 2007, WSFS Bank moved its corporate headquarters from 838 N. Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware, where it had resided since 1885, to 500 Delaware Avenue. The 838 Market Street location is listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places. At the time it was built, the new location was the first multi-tenant building to be constructed in Wilmington since the late 1980s.
WSFS steered through the Great Recession and came out stronger than before. In 2010, WSFS began to expand further into southeastern Pennsylvania with the relocation of the Glen Mills branch. Opened since then are their locations in Edgmont, Kennett Square, Media and West Chester.
In 2011, WSFS celebrated its 25th Anniversary on NASDAQ. Continued growth came with the opening of a new regional headquarters and branch at the corners of Kirkwood Highway and Route 7 in Delaware in 2012.
In 2014, WSFS was named a "Top Workplace" for the ninth year in a row by the Wilmington News Journal. It was also announced that WSFS was voted #1 Bank in Delaware by readers of the Wilmington News Journal and delawareonline.com in their annual Readers' Choice Awards for 2014. This was the fourth consecutive year that WSFS was honored with this award.
Operations
WSFS offers traditional retail banking services such as checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, consumer mortgages, lines of credit, and home equity loans, and also offers commercial banking services for small businesses, business banking and middle market customers, and for real estate development and investment. WSFS also offers investment products through WSFS Wealth Investments, and wealth and trust management services through Christiana Trust.
Acquisitions
In 2010, WSFS Bank acquired Christiana Bank & Trust company and integrated the trust division as part of WSFS's Wealth Management division. The trust business has grown steadily since 2010 and now has more than $10 billion under administration. Christiana Trust provides full service wealth management to individuals including brokerage, trust, investment management and banking products. The Christiana Trust division also services corporations through corporate trust services.
In 2013, it was announced that WSFS purchased Array Financial Group, Inc., a Delaware Valley mortgage banking company and a related entity, Arrow Land Transfer Company (Arrow), an abstract and title company. Both are headquartered in nearby Haverford, Pennsylvania.
In December 2013, WSFS announced the acquisition of The First National Bank of Wyoming and was granted approval by the OCC in June 2014 to complete the purchase of the bank, which was headquartered in Wyoming, Delaware. WSFS completed the acquisition in September 2014, acquiring approximately $230 million in deposits and $288 million in total assets. This includes $186 million in commercial, small business and consumer loans.
WSFS announced in April 2014 that it would acquire Alliance Bank, headquartered in Broomall, Pennsylvania. Alliance Bank has eight branches and reported approximately $421 million in assets, $310 million in loans and $345 million in deposits as of December 2014. Following the merger, WSFS will have 17 locations in southeastern Pennsylvania, including 11 in Delaware County.
Leadership
The executive management team includes:
Peggy H. Eddens â€" Executive Vice President and Director of Human Capital Management
Paul D. Geraghty â€" Executive Vice President and Chief Wealth Officer
Thomas W. Kearney â€" Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer
Rodger Levenson â€" Executive Vice President and interim Chief Financial Officer
S. James Mazarakis â€" Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer
Tom Stevenson â€" President, Cash Connect
Mark A. Turner â€" President and Chief Executive Officer
Richard M. Wright â€" Executive Vice President and Chief Retail Banking Officer
Memberships
WSFS Bank is a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and is an Equal Housing Lender. WSFS Bank uses STAR, and PLUS for its ATM transactions.
References
External links
- WSFS Bank Homepage
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