Message from President & CEO, Diane Arnold regarding the recent banking news coverage
March 14, 2023
Essex Savings Bank, along with other Connecticut banks are healthy, strong, and continue to provide all of the services and access to funds that customers expect. Importantly, customer deposits are insured by the FDIC up to $250,000. Additional insurance may be available through restructuring your deposits into different ownership groups (i.e., joint, individual, retirement). Customers with questions may speak with a bank representative to discuss how they might be able to maximize coverage of their deposits or visit the FDIC’s Insurance Estimator.
Essex Savings Bank takes pride in our relationship-based business model which focuses on building long-term trust with customers. Various risks associated with the business models of banks currently in the news were the leading factor in their inability to continue operations. These risks are not seen with traditional banks such as ours. Furthermore, those banks had adopted higher-risk financial strategies which included having large amounts of uninsured deposits and concentrations of certain investments. They also experienced unusually rapid asset and deposit growth. These factors put them at higher risk for volatility in their businesses. Additionally, the customer bases of these banks were also very different, and not well diversified. They included high concentrations of deposits from business customers in specialized industries, including technology startups, venture capital firms, and cryptocurrency firms.
Connecticut banks are structured very differently and prudently. We are not subject to the same risks that these banks faced. We are very well capitalized and our access to additional capital is more than sufficient to ensure that we can continue to serve the financial needs of our customers and the community. Our customers are also very diversified, and we are not reliant on just a few types of depositors.
As a community bank in its 172nd year, we value your continued trust in the products and services we provide and stand ready to answer any questions you may have.
Sincerely,
Diane H. Arnold
President & CEO