Ohio Savings Bank
Banks don’t just exist to keep and safeguard our money. It also helps in guiding people on how to grown and invest their money. But one of the most sought after service a bank provides is loan lending. In business terms, loan lending is one way for the bank to go on business, earn money, reward their depositors, and attract more clients both depositors and borrowers. Although these are the basic services all banks render, some banks managed to ace it in a way that it does not only earn money but help the community and its people as well. These banks are called community development banks and Ohio Savings Bank is one of them.
Ohio Savings Bank is one of the oldest savings and loans bank based in Cleveland, Ohio. But more than that, it is also one of the most well-loved bank of the people living in that state. Why not? For more than a century, the bank helped many people in Ohio increase their financial wealth and other assets through loans and one of the most popular product of the bank is the Ohio Savings Bank mortgage loan, which pushed residential and commercial business growth in Ohio. In fact, the bank is ranked among the top 20 largest lenders of mortgage in the United States.
Starting as a local savings and loans bank in 1889, Ohio Savings Bank is now a national bank and has about $18 billion in total assets, according to its latest financial disclosure. Aside from mortage lending, the bank is also known for its top quality products and services such as retail banking, indirect auto and construction lending, and investment and insurance services. Ohio Savings Bank, however, changed its name last April 2007 to AmTrust Bank as it moved to doing national operations.
History
In 1889, Ohio Savings Bank opened its first branch in 457 Pearl Road in Cleveland, Ohio earning $20,000 in total asset after one year of operation. The bank then carries the name Ohio Savings Loan & Building Association Co.. The name of the bank has constantly been changed as years went by but it has been popularly known as Ohio Savings.
After nine years of operation since it opened, the bank changed its name to Ohio Savings & Loan Co. following the transfer of its branch to 517 Pear Road. After World War II, an investment securities firm based in Cincinnati bought control of the bank and shortened its name to Ohio Savings Association in 1956. The bank was then headquartered to 515 Euclid Avenue and had four branch offices by year 1960. One year later, the bank was reacquired by a Clevelander in the person of Leo Goldberg, who successfully ran the bank for 10 years.
When he died, his son Robert succeeded his leadership, a term described with robust growth and successful acquisitions of the bank, which purchased Citizens Federal Savings & Loan of Akron in 1975, Shaker Savings in 1978, and establishing its own holding company, Ohio Savings Financial Corp. in 1977, the year when the bank also transferred to another but this time bigger headquarters at 1801 E. 9th St. and named it the Ohio Savings Plaza.
It was in 1986 that the bank became Ohio Savings Bank reflecting a broader range of consumer and commercial banking services. Three years later, the bank acquired the Florida-based Palm Plaza Savings Bank, a move that led to its national expansion and establishment of AmTrust Bank division. What happened is that the banks located in Ohio are named Ohio Savings Bank while those outside of Ohio operated under the name AmTrust Bank.
Until recently on April this year, the holding company decided to name all the banks they operate both in Ohio and other location as AmTrust Bank.
Despite the constant changes on its name, Ohio Savings Bank left an unchangeable mark of giving a remarkable service in mortgage lending that people in Ohio would never forget.