Pub. 9 2019-2020 Issue 1

6 O V E R A C E N T U R Y : B U I L D I N G B E T T E R B A N K S - H E L P I N G C O L O R A D A N S R E A L I Z E D R E A M S FEATURE ARTICLE Infinity Bank leverages managed services from a provider that specializes in the fintech industry, and the services they utilize include network and firewall management, intrusion detection and prevention, email services and service desk support. How This De Novo Bank Does IT Right BY SEAN MARTIN F rom 2000 to 2008, nearly 1,100 de novo banks were newly chartered in the U.S. But that number plummeted following the financial crisis in 2008. When Infinity Bank in Santa Ana, California, opened its doors on Feb. 1, 2018, it became only the ninth new bank in the United States in 10 years. Maybe it’s because launching a de novo bank is anything but easy. Just ask Victor Guerre- ro, Infinity Bank’s COO and CFO. Infinity is the second de novo institution Guerrero has launched in 30 years of banking. He says build - ing a bank from the ground up is an arduous process that requires holding dozens of meet - ings with regulators, completing thousands of pages of paperwork and raising millions of dollars in capital. Additionally, before a bank opens its doors, executives must also make important technolo- gy decisions that will affect their institution for years to come. And choosing the wrongmanaged IT services partner can cost a bank considerable time and money. Unfortunately, this is a lesson Guerrero learned with his first de novo bank. The First Time Around In 2002, Guerrero opened Orange County Business Bank to serve customers whom he felt were forgotten or overlooked by larger financial institutions in the Southern California commu- nity. But the bank was nearly derailed due to managed IT services vendors that, according to Guerrero, did not properly set the institution up for success, even though they were broadly used in the de novo bank space. “We were a shambles,” Guerrero says. “Systems were not working properly, we were advised to purchase hardware that we did not need, and we paid for things to be installed that never were.” To help get Orange County Business Bank back on track, Guerrero turned to an IT man- aged services provider that delivered a more strategic IT approach, customized to the bank’s specific needs. Doing so made all the difference in the world. “It was transformative for our bank,” he says. “We went from a hodgepodge of IT sys - tems management to something much more sophisticated. We were far more comfortable knowing we were protected and set up for the future.” So years later, when it came time to estab- lish his second de novo, Guerrero knew that his existing managed services partner should be involved with Infinity Bank right from the start, including the lengthy application process.