A little bank in Fishtown is marking its 150th birthday and making big plans for the future

Tioga-Franklin Savings Bank was chartered on March 31, 1873, and is headquartered in a former rowhouse at the corner of Girard Avenue and Oxford Street in Fishtown.

It has neither branches nor ATMs.

But it’s hardly “a museum of banking,” said John T. Coleman, the retiring CEO. “We’ve taken this tiny little bank into the 21st century by transitioning to digital banking so successfully that more than 90% of client transactions are now virtual.”

The latest step forward is designation as a minority depository institution (MDI) by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The bank plans to expand lending and other services to underserved communities in the Philadelphia region, South Jersey, and northern Delaware, according to a statement on the Tioga-Franklin website.

“Being recognized as an MDI establishes a platform for us. We want to make sure that access to capital is [central] to our mission,” said Terry McEwen, who has served as president of the 150-year-old community bank in Fishtown since August and took over the CEO’s position in late April. He replaces Coleman, who is retiring after eight years at the helm of Tioga-Franklin and nearly 51 years in banking.

“We’ve been meeting with small businesses and nonprofits in order to know where the needs are,” said McEwen, who has 40 years of banking experience.

Founded in the Nicetown section of North Philadelphia, Tioga-Franklin has provided mortgages and loans that generations of neighborhood residents and businesspeople have relied upon. The bank also has played a role in the resurgence of Fishtown in recent years.

“Even back in the day when houses in Fishtown sold for $10,000 and a pack of cigarettes, I thought the neighborhood could be something. But I never envisioned what it has become,” said Keith McHenry, a Tioga-Franklin customer who renovates and rents properties in Fishtown.

“As a small bank, they understand local, small investors,” he said. “When they understand you and your business, they can think outside the box. They can be creative. You’re not going to get that at a bigger bank.”

Bigger offers some advantages but is not always better, said Kevin Shivers, president and CEO of the 70-member Pennsylvania Association of Community Bankers.

“Over the last few months, our nation has experienced three major failures of banks that were too big to fail, but for 150 years Tioga-Franklin has lived through it all — because of their business model,” he said.

“Fishtown is thriving because of banks like Tioga-Franklin that focus on banking as a betterment of the community,” said Shivers. “These banks have powerful, personal relationships with customers and with the communities they serve.”

Dionne N. Jackson, an IRA specialist at Tioga-Franklin, said many customers “say they feel at home” at the cozy little bank on the corner.

“I don’t feel like I’m in a box and have to quote some sort of script” even when interacting with customers on the phone or online, said Jackson, a banking professional since 1998. “I’m free to listen so I can understand what the customer wants and needs.”

During the worst of the pandemic, Tioga-Franklin also stepped up to provide businesses with access to the Paycheck Protection Program offered by the federal Small Business Administration. It remained open and provided small businesses in the region with 857 PPP loans totaling $115 million.

Tioga-Franklin also teamed up with its neighbor and friendly competitor, Hyperion Bank, devising a plan to accommodate each other’s customers should COVID-19 force either one of their institutions to close.

Fortunately, the arrangement didn’t have to be put into practice, said Charlie Crawford, Hyperion’s chairman and CEO. “More often than not, small community banks tend to work together. I hope we’re not a dying breed.”

Coleman, who’s 71, said Tioga-Franklin’s previous board of directors had long sought to create a succession plan.

“They wanted this bank to be around for many more years,” he said. “So we brought on eight additional board members, all of them people of color, who brought with them the strategy to become an MDI bank so we can better serve and grow our market in the Philadelphia region.”

Among the new members was McEwen, who served as director of New Jersey’s Department of Banking and Insurance for four years under Gov. Jon Corzine.

“Now Terry is masterminding where we want to take the bank going forward,” said Coleman, adding that his plans include road trips with his wife, Jeannie, and their chocolate Labrador, Lewy.