Florida Banking October/November 2024

T ampa-based Central Bank was founded in 2007 as a Minority Deposit Institution (MDI) to serve the large Asian Indian community and local small businesses. Despite opening its doors amid the challenges of the financial crisis, the commercial bank not only survived but has been growing since 2014. Today, the bank has over $300 million in assets and four offices in Tampa, Winter Park, St. Augustine and Suwanee (NE Atlanta). The FDIC defines an MDI as a federal insured depository institution where 51% or more of the voting stock is owned by minority individuals; Central Bank’s parent, Central Financial Holdings, is 95.1% Asian Indian owned. As part of its commitment to support MDIs and CDFI, in 2021, Bank of America invested in Central Financial Holdings. “At the founding of Central Bank, there was no Asian Indian bank in Florida,” said Founding Director and Chairman Rajeshkumar (Raj) Patel. “We are a leading MDI bank focused on the Indian community in our various markets for about 30 percent of our new business. Otherwise, we service the broad needs of all sectors of our primary markets.” “Our board is made up of Asian Indian entrepreneurs and successful businessmen,” said President and CEO John Thompson, who joined the bank in 2014. “We are very diverse from an ownership, staffing and customer perspective.” Central Bank provides full deposit services and has broad lending capabilities in Commercial, Commercial Real Estate, SBA/ USDA, as well as a full-service Residential Lending division. During the recent Covid19 crisis, Central Bank demonstrated strong community support via the PPP/SBA lending program and extended $86 million in loans. Central Bank acquired offices from SouthState Bank in Winter Park and St. Augustine in 2018. This gave the bank a meaningful footprint in the I-4 Corridor, with an extension up I-95 to the Northeast Florida markets. In 2022 the bank acquired an office in Suwanee, Ga. (Northeast Atlanta) from First Citizens Bank. “All of our branches are located in very desirable areas of four large Metropolitan Statistical Areas,” CEO Thompson indicated. CEO Thompson and the Central Bank Team appreciate the culture of the independent community bank and the opportunity to be “close to the customers.” The bank’s core values are honesty, integrity, servant leadership and community stewardship. In addition to the yearly Tampa Bay Area Indian Festival, Central Bank is active in the community through service organizations such as Habitat Central Bank, Continued on page 10

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