Florida Banking October 2021

L ocated in the heart of Coral Gables, Miami, Terrabank has grown alongside the vibrant South Floridian city. This local community bank was established in 1985. Today, it is owned by a diverse group of individual investors from both Latin America and Miami, which is reflective of the diversity of South Florida. Terrabank is an OCC bank with three locations, 98 employees, and is affiliated with a banking group that has presence in nine countries. “We’re a domestic bank with an international bend,” said President and CEO Antonio Uribe. Uribe is Hispanic-American, but he was born in Montreal, Canada. His family lived in Colombia until Uribe was 11 years old, when they moved to the U.S. Uribe was drawn to the banking industry for the opportunity to travel and see the world. Prior to joining Terrabank, he worked for Citibank for nearly 20 years, serving as country head and general manager in Zambia, Guatemala, Paraguay and Colombia. Chair Francisco Martinez Henares, who is of Nicaraguan and Cuban descent, has a similar story;

Terrabank has grown to $614 million in total assets. As real estate prices go up in Miami, so too has the bank seen an increase in commercial real estate lending. Terrabank has a wealth of experience in real estate financing, offering an array of loan programs for commercial real estate and residential properties. As real estate is one of the main drivers of South Florida’s economy, the bank is proud of the role it plays in impacting the economy of the local community. While Uribe says it’s the “sun and the sea” that bring residents to Miami, he sees that the city has become a hub for the tech and finance industries, attracting young professionals from the Northeast. It is a sign of things to come, and Uribe believes that digital transformation is critical to retaining customers and outpacing the competition. Digital Transformation Terrabank, for example, has implemented digital solutions to make processes like opening credit lines more efficient. The bank has also adapted popular digital payments app Zelle. In fact, Terrabank has

“ [OUR INTERNATIONAL BACKGROUNDS] HAVE MADE IT MUCH EASIER TO UNDERSTAND AND WORK IN THE VARIOUS MARKETS FROM WHICH WE HAVE CLIENTS... IT HAS ALSO MADE IT EASIER TO PROMOTE OUR SERVICES IN THE INTERNATIONAL ARENA. ” - ANTONIO URIBE

he was born in New Orleans but lived in Nicaragua until he was nine, at which point his family moved back to the U.S. Today, he is executive vice president and chief financial officer of the $18 billion banking group Promerica Financial Corporation. Previously he worked for Bank of America as vice president in corporate banking based in Miami, with a focus on Latin America. “Miami is quite an international city. I think it’s difficult to be a bank in South Florida, Miami in particular, and not have international clients… particularly from Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Martinez Henares. “Our international client base has evolved and grown as Miami has also grown internationally.” Several members of Terrabank’s management team and board of directors have international backgrounds. “[Our international backgrounds] have made it much easier to understand and work in the various markets from which we have clients,” said Uribe. “It has also made it easier to promote our services in the international arena.”

partnered with three fintech companies to automate processes and better meet clients’ needs. Terrabank was introduced to Cobiscorp, a multinational banking software company looking to enter the U.S. market. The bank wanted to develop a small business line of credit product, and found its partnership with Cobiscorp mutually beneficial as the software company used Terrabank as its beta project in the United States. More recently, the bank has worked with FIS to develop several RPA (robotic process automation) projects which, according to Uribe, have been “instrumental” in its digital transformation projects. The team at Terrabank believes that the concept of digital transformation goes beyond client services. The company has gone paperless, turning to digital solutions to streamline internal processes. Looking back, Uribe reflects that the greatest challenge for the company was not the transition itself but rather learning to do things differently and letting go of the “security blanket” that paper copy represented. Terrabank: A Domestic Bank, Continued on page 10

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