It seems everyone wants to be a banker these days, with credit quality at historically high levels and bank failures a distant memory.
The rosy environment for bankers makes the business look too easy, some bankers say.
But the proliferation of new banks shows no signs of slowing, at least not yet.
No fewer than seven banks have started up -- or are in the process of starting -- in the Bay Area over the last few years. There's so much interest in establishing a bank that Dallas-based StartaBank.com was recently in town to hold a seminar for those who might be interested in coming together to start yet another bank.
"StartaBank.com is a service designed to help industry professionals or business people develop and facilitate the formation of a new bank," according to the web site of the firm, which is working with Napa residents to open a bank.
Get in line
California saw 11 new banks open their doors in the state in 2004, 26 last year and three in the first quarter of this year, according to the latest figures from the California Department of Financial Institutions. There's a full pipeline of bank applications under consideration by the state's banking regulator. Among those seeking approval are California Bank of Commerce in Lafayette and Alta Alliance Bank and OneCalifornia Bank , both based in Oakland.
Given the proliferation of new banks, it's perhaps not surprising that one Southern California bank is trying to cut through the clutter by changing its name this month to TomatoBank .
"Too often customers and the business community consider all banks the same. TomatoBank is hard to forget," said Stephen Liu, chairman and CEO of the bank formerly known as InterBusiness Bank .
"Banks are popping up like mushrooms after a spring rain," said Brian Garrett, president and CEO of Oakland-based Community Bank of the Bay , which might be considered something of a restart given the bank's robust turnaround from near failure several years ago.
"The East Bay will be adequately banked given the inventory of existing banks plus the number of banks either pending approval or raising capital and, more importantly, the current economic environment," said George Guarini, CEO of Bay Commercial Bank , which opened in July 2004 with offices in Oakland and Walnut Creek...
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