Nat'l Penn adds Market branch as other Philly banks shut
2040 Market site to open in March
Nat'l Penn adds Market branch as other Philly banks shut
Joseph N. DiStefano
National Penn Bank says it's adding a second Center City branch, at 2040 Market St., with 20 staffers, including some new lenders, by March, to serve a growing number of industrial borrowers, buyout firms, company owners and other manufacturing and investment clients, says Scott Gamble, head of the bank's Philadelphia region.
Nat'l Penn's existing office at 1617 JFK Boulevard, will also stay open. "We want to continue to increase our footprint in the Philadelphia market," even as it reduces its branch network upstate, Gamble told me. National Penn is also financing deals by Philadelphia investors in distant cities "if it's a sponsor we know in an industry we have experience with." It's also looking to expand its trust, wealth management and capital-management services to company owners: "We have very good relationships with accounting firms and law firms" who refer clients.
National Penn is growing while other local banks shrink. Philadelphia was home to 329 bank branches on June 30, 2011, down from 355 three years earlier. Six of the region's seven largest banks (all except Bank of America) have closed more branches in the city than they have opened since 2008, part of a national trend following bank mergers and the shift by consumers and retail businesses to online banking.
