Bank's city opening heralds metro invasion.

Five-year-old Metropolitan National Bank of New York [MetBank] will open its first branch on the street level of its headquarters building at 99 Park Ave. in February 2005, president and CEO Mark R. DeFazio announced.

"The event marks the beginning of a new era of growth for MetBank. Until now we've served a growing list of middle market commercial and real estate clients, providing a full range of services via direct relationships with banking officers who are experts in these businesses. It is time now to expand our offerings to the community at large," DeFazio said.

Since its inception in 1999, MetBank has focused on the commercial and Real Estate markets in New York City. "We've built strong relationships with our business clients because of our emphasis on service and flexibility and because our highly experienced and knowledgeable bank executives understand their needs," the MetBank president added.

"We are now committed to offering retail clients the same high levels of service. We will offer full service banking to individuals and businesses throughout our extended Park Avenue neighborhood and establish a model for future growth, but we'll do it our way--with a cadre of professionals who can serve their needs without bureaucracy.

"For example, clients will be delighted that tellers are empowered to make some decisions without having to check with an officer," he said.

"MetBank is a nimble, creative, and flexible organization, and we want to carry that to the branch as well. Our clients will feel welcome when they walk in to the bank. Branch personnel will be selected for their interpersonal skills as well as their technical knowledge.

"The people working at the branch will be encouraged to overcome and resolve problems and difficulties, rather than allow minor issues to stand in the way of a successful relationship."

The announcement noted that the institution intends to open additional branches in strategic locations in the New York metropolitan area and that it will even consider opening branches in New Jersey since MetBank is a national bank. Future locations will be determined by customer demand, according to DeFazio.

He explained that MetBank's need for branches, thus far, was offset by its business model, which concentrated initially on commercial lending that was funded principally by deposits acquired via the Internet.

"By posting wholesale CDs on the Web at premium rates, the bank was able to grow deposits by 45.5% to $184 million last year.

"It is a very cost effective way to raise liquidity and it allows us to offer better rates on deposits, a feature that has helped us build a large domestic and international depositor base that doesn't depend on physical branches but that does ensure that we have a steady flow of funds," he added.