Republic First Bancorp, Inc. was organized and incorporated under the laws
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1987 and is the holding company for Republic
First Bank, which does business under the name Republic Bank, and we may refer
to as Republic or the Bank throughout this document. Republic offers a variety
of credit and depository banking services. Such services are offered to individuals
and businesses primarily in the Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey
area through their offices and branches in Philadelphia, Montgomery, and Delaware
Counties in Pennsylvania and Camden, Burlington, and Gloucester Counties in
New Jersey.
Historically, our primary objective had been to position ourselves as an alternative
to the large financial institutions for commercial banking services in the Greater
Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey region. However, in 2008, we made an important
and strategic shift in our business approach, redirecting our efforts toward
the creation of a major retail bank that would meet an important need in our
existing marketplace. Focused on delivering high levels of customer service
and satisfaction, driving innovation, developing a bold brand and creating shareholder
value, Republic Bank sought to offer a banking experience that would turn customers
into Fans. As other banks began to turn toward automation for growth, Republic
Bank took a different approach and chose not only to embrace advances in technology,
but to also define itself by the personal touch.
Republic is a commercial bank chartered pursuant to the laws of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania, and is subject to examination and comprehensive regulation
by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Pennsylvania Department
of Banking and Securities. The deposits held by the Bank are insured, up to
applicable limits, by the Deposit Insurance Fund of the FDIC.
We offer a range of competitively priced banking products and services, including
consumer and commercial deposit accounts, checking accounts, interest-bearing
demand accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, savings accounts,
sweep accounts, lockbox services and individual retirement accounts (and other
traditional banking services), secured and unsecured commercial loans, real
estate loans, construction and land development loans, automobile loans, home
improvement loans, mortgages, home equity and overdraft lines of credit, and
other products. We attempt to offer a high level of personalized service to
both our retail and commercial customers.
We also maintain a Small Business Lending team that specializes in the origination
of loans guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration ("SBA")
to provide much needed credit to small businesses throughout our service area.
This team has developed into one of the top lenders under the SBA program in
our region. For the last several years they have been ranked as one of the top
SBA lenders in the tri-state market of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware
based on the dollar volume of loan originations.
We are members of the STAR™ and PLUS™ automated teller (ATM) networks,
and Allpoint - Americas Largest Surcharge Free ATM Network which enable us
to provide our customers with free access to more than 55,000 ATMs worldwide.
We currently have seventeen proprietary ATMs located in our store network.
Our lending activities generally are focused on small and medium sized businesses
within the communities that we serve. Commercial real estate loans represent
the largest category within our loan portfolio. Repayment of these loans is,
in part, dependent on general economic conditions affecting our customers and
various businesses within the community. As a commercial lender, we are subject
to credit risk. Economic and financial conditions could have an adverse effect
on the ability of our borrowers to repay their loans. To manage the challenges
that the economic environment may present we have adopted a conservative loan
classification system, continually review and enhance our allowance for loan
loss methodology, and perform a comprehensive review of our loan portfolio on
a regular basis.
Although management follows established underwriting policies and closely monitors
loans through Republics loan review officer, credit risk is still inherent
in the portfolio. The majority of Republics loan portfolio is collateralized
with real estate or other collateral; however, a portion of the commercial portfolio
is unsecured, representing loans made to borrowers considered to be of sufficient
financial strength to merit unsecured financing. Republic makes both fixed and
variable rate loans with terms typically ranging from one to five years. Variable
rate loans are generally tied to the national prime rate of interest.
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