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Image source: Crain’s New York

Crain’s New York reports on Amerasia Bank, a small community bank headquartered on Main Street in Flushing (GMAP). And according to research firm SNL Financial, it has also achieved the rank of top-performing community bank in the US. Its statistics beat the pants off of the big banks, those that are “too big to fail.” A few examples of their success:

  • $0 (zero) are past due of the bank’s $257 million in loans.
  • Its return on assets through the first half of 2012 was 3.4% (three times that of Wells Fargo, which is considered to be the nation’s best-run large bank.
  • It is twice as efficient as the average small bank, costing 37 cents to generate a dollar of revenue.

This bank is very efficient in general, down to the demand that employees turn off the lights after using the restroom. CEO James Huang says “Don’t waste anything. Not your time, not your energy.” He also pays his employees better than other banks.

He started the bank in 1988, getting it off the ground with $5.5 million from friends and family. They mostly work with the Chinese community, but they also do business with others in the immigrant community in Flushing. According to the FDIC, over 80% of Amerasia’s loans are to small businesses with revenue of under $500,000, such as restaurants and laundromats (of which there are a lot in Flushing).

You’ll rarely see him complaining about regulations and red tape, as he understands that “many banks made foolish decisions during the boom years that created big problems.” He is also dubious about the American style of expansion through mergers and acquisitions. He says, “I’m not saying it’s wrong, but too often mergers and acquisitions are like the jungle, with the big animal eating the smaller one. It shouldn’t be that way.”

The best bank that nobody’s heard of [Crain’s New York]


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