Tompkins Financial Corp. of Ithaca, the parent of Mahopac National Bank, said that it will participate in a federal program that extends unlimited deposit insurance coverage for non-interest bearing checking account balances through 2009.

The program was launched recently by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to boost the confidence of bank depositors in troubled economic times.

“Tompkins Financial is strong and well-capitalized, and our company has posted record earnings through third quarter,” Tompkins Financial Chief Executive Officer Stephen S. Romaine said in a written statement. “That being said, we want our customers to have as much peace-of-mind as possible in these unsettling times. Enabling our three community banks to offer maximum FDIC coverage will help us to provide our customers with an added measure of security.”

USA Bank in Port Chester said it had lower losses in the third quarter and warned that near-term profitability would be “a major challenge.”
The commercial bank, founded in 2005, said it had a net loss of $118,000, or 2 cents a share, for the third quarter, compared to a net loss of $843,000, or 15 cents a share, in the comparable quarter a year earlier. Net interest income figures were not announced.
The bank said that total assets at the end of the third quarter grew 15 percent from the end of 2007, to $195.7 million. Deposits were up 24 percent from the end of 2007, to $151.9 million. The loan portfolio was up 40 percent from the end of 2007, to $149.6 million.
The bank said that its board of directors had negotiated a buyout of its administrative office lease at 800 Westchester Ave. in Rye Brook, and nearly all the staff would move to its Port Chester office. The rest will move to an office in nearby Greenwich, Conn.

The Westchester Bank in Yonkers has named three businessmen in the county to its board of directors: Eugene S. Reisman, Peter C. Cunningham and Howard B. Arden.
Reisman, a Pleasantville resident, is chief operating officer and managing member of the real estate law firm of Novick, Edelstein, Lubell, Reisman, Wasserman & Leventhal in Yonkers. Reisman was licensed as a certified public accountant in 1976 and was admitted to the New York state bar in 1977. He is a governor of the Bronx-Manhattan North Association of Realtors, and a director of the Bronx Realty Advisory Board. He also serves as employer trustee of the Local 32BJ North Service Employees International Union Health and Welfare Funds.
Cunningham, a New Rochelle resident, is president and chief executive officer of Dover Garage II Inc. and its affiliate, The Dover Group Inc. Dover owns and operates commercial, industrial and retail properties in Manhattan, Bronx and Westchester. Cunningham serves as president of the board of managers of The Kimberly Condominium. He also serves on the Alumni Executive Board of Texas Christian University where he earned an MBA degree from The Neeley School of Business.
Arden, an Armonk resident, is president of Arden Business Systems Inc. of Armonk, an office products company he founded in 1986. Arden is founder and president of the Friends of Muscoot Park, a 777-acre county park in Somers. He also serves as chairman of the Muscoot Park Advisory Board, chairman of the North Castle Open Space Committee and treasurer to the Board of Trustees of The Friends of Westchester County Parks. He holds a master’s of public administration degree from New York University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Methodist University in Fayetteville, NC.

Uncle Sam has taken investment stakes in numerous banks around the country as part of a $700 billion financial rescue package intended to help improve the outlook for troubled institutions and alleviate the global financial crisis.

But one bank with local branches and $2.7 billion in assets is saying no thanks to the government assistance.

Tompkins Financial Corp. of Ithaca, the parent of Mahopac National Bank, said that it will not apply to access funds through the Treasury Department’s Capital Purchase Program because the bank is well capitalized. Mahopac National Bank has 14 branches and one limited-service office in Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties.

“As a result of our strong financial condition, we are not currently in need of capital, unlike many other financial institutions,” Chief Executive Officer Stephen S. Romaine said in a written statement. “Further, we believe that our financial strength provides us with access to capital through more traditional private sector alternatives that we feel would offer a better long term value to our shareholders.”

Jerry Gleeson
The Journal News
The parent company of Provident Bank in Montebello said it had higher profits and revenues for the fourth quarter and its full fiscal year, citing loan growth and more efficient operations.
The parent, Provident New York Bancorp, said that for the fourth quarter ending Sept. 30, it had net income of $6.5 million, or 17 cents a share, on net interest income of $25.5 million. For the comparable quarter a year earlier, it had net income of $5.15 million, or 13 cents a share, on net interest income of $22.2 million.
For fiscal 2008, it had net income of $23.8 million, or 61 cents a share, on net interest income of $95.3 million. for fiscal 2007, it had net income of $19.6 million, or 48 cents a share, on net interest income of $84.7 million.
Loans at Sept. 30 grew to $93.5 million, up 5.7 percent from the end of fiscal 2007. Growth was mainly in the commercial sector, the bank said.
The company charged off $1 million in the fourth quarter, compared to $812,000 in the third quarter and $910,000 for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007. It said it doesn’t originate subprime residential mortgages and doesn’t hold any preferred stock in government sponsored entities that needs to be written down.
Provident’s efficiency ratio improved. The ratio, a figure that reflects the amount of revenue that covers expenses, dropped from 70.1 percent in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007 to 63.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Reach Jerry Gleeson at jgleeson@lohud.com or 914-694-5026.

John M. Tolomer, a former regional executive with Commerce Bank, will return to the area when he takes over as president and chief executive officer of The Westchester Bank in Yonkers effective Nov. 3.
Tolomer, 52, will succeed George E. Dunkel, who will retire after nearly 50 years in the business, Westchester Bank said. Dunkel joined Westchester Bank last year after retiring in 2005 as president and chief executive of Community Bank of Sullivan County.
Tolomer held positions with Citibank and Bank of New York, and served as senior vice president at the latter. In 2003 he joined Commerce Bank and helped lead its expansion in the Westchester market. In 2005 he was named president of Commerce Florida.

Banks run up large expenses for postage and paper when they mail monthly account statements to customers and process thousands of paper checks.

One bank in the region has adopted an unusual strategy to try and slow the paper flow: Give customers a financial incentive to bank electronically.

Citizens Financial Group said that it will pay customers a dime for each electronic payment they make, up to $10 per month and $120 per year. This program called, Green$ense, deposits cash directly into a customer’s checking account on a monthly basis. The Providence, R.I.-based bank said that the program’s benefits include greater savings for customers and environmental protection from cutting paper use.

“With Green$ense, we pay customers for changing their habits in a manner that not only makes banking more convenient and their lives more manageable, but also is beneficial for the environment,” said Theresa McLaughlin, group executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Citizens Financial.

With $161 billion in assets, Citizens Financial operates more than 1,600 branches and 3,500 automated teller machines in the Northeast and Midwest. In the Lower Hudson Valley, Citizens has two branches in White Plains, two in Yonkers and a single location in Spring Valley.

The average U.S. family receives approximately 19 bills and statements and makes seven payments in paper per month, according to the U.S. Postal Service. By eliminating these paper statements and processing these transactions electronically, the average family can save about seven pounds of paper, 63 gallons of water and 24 square feet of forest a year, according to Cooler Inc., a non-pofit group that looks at the impact of global warming.

Customers who enroll in Green$ense will automatically receive their banking statements electronically. Citizens Financial said that the program could save 700,000 pounds of paper and nearly seven million gallons of water in its first year.

Customers enrolled in Green$ense will also receive an e-mail from Citizens offering tips for a greener lifestyle. They are also eligible for a MasterCard debit card made from recycled plastic.

Less than two weeks after JPMorgan Chase & Co. Inc. bought the banking business of Washington Mutual Inc. for $1.9 billion, the bank is quickly moving to integrate the 27-state network of automated teller machines at the combined institution.

Customers of either bank can now now make withdrawals and balance inquiries at any of 14,000 Chase or Washington Mutual ATMs in the United States without incurring a fee, according to Chase. Customers will eventually be able to make deposits at the combined network of ATMs and have access to a network of more than 5,400 branches as computer systems are converted.

“We wanted to provide almost immediate benefits to millions of our WaMu and Chase customers,” said Charlie Scharf, head of retail financial services for Chase.

The buyout made Chase the largest U.S. bank by deposits with a presence in some of the largest states, including California, Florida, New York, Texas and Illinois.

The combined bank also will be a powerhouse in the Lower Hudson Valley. As a result of the deal, Chase gained 22 Washington Mutual branches in Westchester and Rockland counties to add to an existing network of 135 branches in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam. The addition of Washington Mutual’s $1.31 billion in area deposits would bring Chase’s total in the region to $11.16 billion.

While Chase is waiving ATM fees for customers at the combined bank, other aspects of the integration will take longer. For example, the Washington Mutual branches and ATMs will continue using the Washington Mutual brand for “some time,” according to Chase.

Seattle-based Washington Mutual was seized by federal regulators on Sept 25 in what was the largest bank failure in U.S. history. While taking control of the bank, regulators engineered the sale of its assets to JPMorgan Chase.

KeyBank has opened its latest branch in the Lower Hudson Valley at 420 S. Riverside Ave., Croton-on-Hudson. The 2,400 square-foot branch features 24-hour walk-up ATM, expanded lobby seating, a conference room, and an after-hours depository. Dina Basciano-Vecchione has been named branch manager. Key, which acquired Union State Bank at the beginning of this year, now has 64 branches throughout the region.

Hudson Valley Bank has been identified as the largest locally-based bank in Westchester County, although in a narrow legal sense the claim is a little cloudier.
The commercial bank, with assets of more than $2 billion, officially moved its principal banking office late last year from 21 Scarsdale Road in Yonkers to 1055 Somer St. in Stamford, Conn. Top management continues to run the show from the bank’s familiar headquarters on Scarsdale Road; the parent company, Hudson Valley Holding Corp., is still in Yonkers as well.
Hudson Valley Bank’s offices are listed on the quarterly reports that the bank must file with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as being in Stamford.
Why the distinction? The bank has targeted Fairfield County for growth. Chief Executive Officer James J. Landy said Hudson Valley Bank faced the prospect of serving two regulators, the state of Connecticut as well as the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, as it adds branches in Fairfield.
The bank holds a national charter. New York state has reciprocal regulatory agreements with New Jersey and Pennsylvania, but not with Connecticut. Such an agreement is in the works.
Landy said the bank’s attorneys learned that they could avoid that situation if they moved the principal banking office to the new market. It’s not a loophole in the strict sense of the word; the headquarters must be near the principal banking office, even if a state boundary intersects the line between the two, Landy said.

Eric J. Wiggins, a senior manager at the former Union State Bank of Orangeburg, has been tapped to run Community Bank of Orange.
Wiggins will take over as president and chief executive officer at the bank effective Aug. 25. Last month an investment group that included former members of Union State’s board of directors said they would take an equity stake in Community Bank. The bank has lost money since its inception in 2002; its stock is traded over the counter.
Wiggins has 20 years in banking in the Hudson Valley. He had been senior vice president of commercial lending at Union State before it was bought at the start of this year by KeyCorp, where he continued as a senior vice president.
He will succeed Anthony Ingrassia as CEO. Suffern builder Kenneth Torsoe, a former Union State director who’s investing in Community Bank, will take over as the bank’s chairman after the investment deal, the bank said last month.
The bank, based in Middletown, plans to open a branch in Bardonia.

Hudson Valley Holding Corp. of Yonkers, the parent company of Hudson Valley Bank, said it had lower profits for the first half of fiscal 2008, year over year.
The company had net income of $16.3 million, or $1.59 a share, compared to net income of $16.7 million, of $1.64 a share, in the first half of 2007. Chief Executive Officer James J. Landy said net loans increased $205.3 million, or 15.9 percent in the period, leading the company to increase its loan loss reserve.
As of June 30, assets were $2.3 billion, deposits were $1.7 billion and net loans were $1.5 billion.

Provident Bank has opened a new branch in Stony Point, the Montebello-based banker reported today.

The branch, at 153 S. Liberty Drive (Route 9W), replaces the previous Stony Point location across the street.

The 3,600-square-foot branch features 24-hour walk-up and drive-up ATMs and is open extended hours, including Saturday and Sunday.

In addition to 10 other sites in Rockland, Provident has branches throughout Orange County, as well as two branches each in Ulster and Sullivan, and one each in Putnam and Bergen County, N.J.

Tompkins Financial Corp. of Ithaca, the parent of Mahopac National Bank, said it had net income of $7.12 million in the second quarter, or 73 cents a share, on net interest income of $21.9 million. For the comparable quarter a year earlier, it had net income of $6.36 million, or 65 cents a share, on net interest income of $18.5 million.
The company raised its dividend from 32 cents a share to 34 cents a share, payable on Aug. 15 to shareholders of record on Aug. 4. The company acquired Sleepy Hollow Bank, which closed in May.

Hudson Valley Bank in Yonkers said it has closed its Rego Park branch in Queens and opened a new branch in Flushing. The Flushing branch has parking, safe deposit boxes, a night drop and automated teller machine. Hudson Valley, the largest independently-owned bank headquartered in Westchester County, has assets of $2.34 billion and 26 branches throughout the metro area.
The bank recently opened a branch in Stamford, Conn. and has approvals to open three other branches in Greenwich, Fairfield and Westport. Those branches are expected to open later this year.

Alpine Capital Bank of Manhattan has made its first major investment in Westchester County by lending $15 million toward the construction and permanent financing of the new Pound Ridge Golf Club, bank spokeswoman April Rudin said. Alpine has assets of $250 million and headquarters on Fifth Avenue. Golf club owner Ken Wang and his family have known the bank for some time, an Alpine statement said. The golf course, which cost an estimated $50 million, opens to the public Wednesday.

MasterCard Inc. is looking to take a page out of Western Union’s play book in developing a system using mobile phones that will allow U.S. consumers to transfer funds to friends and family nationwide.

The mobile-payment system, made possible through an agreement with Obopay Inc., a California-based mobile payment service, will give customers of banks that issue MasterCard debit or credit cards the ability to make money transfers via their cell phones using mobile numbers to send and receive funds.

Purchase-based MasterCard expects to test the system later this year and introduce the service in early 2009.

Shares of MasterCard fell in trading today, losing $8.59, or 2.9 percent, to $284.01.

People’s United Bank plans to open a branch in White Plains later this month, the Bridgeport, Conn.-based financial-services company said today.

The new office, at 14 Mamaroneck Ave., across from the Ritz-Carlton Westchester, will open June 30, People’s United said in a written statement.

The downtown White Plains branch joins two existing branches in the county — in Scarsdale and Mount Kisco. In addition to those in Westchester, the company operates some 300 branches throughout Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts.

The White Plains office will employ six workers, People’s United said.

Tompkins Financial Corp. used $21 million of a $25 million credit line with JPMorgan Chase Bank to finance its $30.2 million purchase of Sleepy Hollow Bancorp Inc., Tompkins disclosed in a regulatory filing today.

The deal, which merged Mahopac National Bank with Sleepy Hollow Bancorp, closed Friday.

The six Sleepy Hollow banks, in Pleasantville, Ossining, Yonkers and Sleepy Hollow, are now known as Mahopac National Bank’s Sleepy Hollow Division, said Tompkins, based in Ithaca.

The merger created a regional banking subsidiary with $750 million in assets and 15 branches in Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties, Tompkins said.

Tompkins Financial Corp. of Ithaca said this morning it has gotten all the regulatory and shareholder approvals it needs for its purchase of Sleepy Hollow Bancorp Inc.

Tompkins, the parent company of Mahopac National Bank, announced last November it agreed to pay $30.2 million in cash for the parent of Sleepy Hollow Bank. The deal is expected to be completed May 7.

The five Sleepy Hollow Bank branches will be known as the Sleepy Hollow Division of Mahopac National Bank. Customer accounts will be transferred May 9, giving the combined Mahopac National Bank $750 million in assets, 14 branches and one limited service office in Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties.