Union Savings Bank brings personal touch to Independence

by Dan Holland

The spring grand opening of Union Savings Bank’s regional headquarters, home loan office and retail bank branch located at 6400 Rockside Rd., marks the Cincinnati-based financial institution’s first foray into the Greater Cleveland area.

Union Savings Bank, which occupies all three floors of the brick-faced building in the heart of the city’s business district, includes the bank branch on the ground floor with mortgage loan and administrative offices located on the upper floors. The various departments took up residence in phases beginning in 2022, explained Regional Branch Manager Zach Steinmetz. “We wanted to do a grand opening to get members and stakeholders from around the community into our office to see the new space that we had just built and work on building relationships within Independence, Greater Cleveland and the surrounding counties.”

The company, established in 1904, operates 39 full-service branches in Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania. The current owners of the privately owned company purchased the business in 1987, which consisted of only one branch operation at the time, according to Steinmetz.

“It’s a great success story in being able to open up in all of those markets within a 35-year period … and now being able to move into the Cleveland market and make an investment with our first office here,” said Steinmetz. “We’re certainly looking to put down roots here – prove our concept in Independence and also find areas to branch out to serve the Greater Cleveland area.”

Providing one-on-one personalized service coupled with a variety of traditional banking products such as passbooks, checking and savings accounts, and CDs, along with a full line of home lending products, sets the firm apart in the banking industry, said Independence Branch Manager Greta Popa.

“Many times, people go into financial centers and they are not even dealing with a real person; just dealing with machines mostly,” said Popa. “But when you walk into Union Savings Bank, there is always a real person here who will talk with you to determine the best decision as far as financial advice. We still offer that, and customers love the idea that we’re old-fashioned in that sense.”

Added Steinmetz, “We’re building those relationships with our customers that many people still yearn for. With the advent of all of these technologies, to still have real people who understand what your needs are isn’t commonplace in the market anymore; we bring that personal touch for each customer.”

Community outreach and involvement is a company-wide strategy practiced in each city in which the company opens a branch office, said Steinmetz.

“Our company is working on ideas to integrate ourselves within Independence and the surrounding communities,” he explained. “We’re currently working with the city of Independence and chamber of commerce and plan on branching out with some other towns. We’ve built a relationship here with the firefighters and treated them to lunch recently and also spoke with the police department. We just want to show the stakeholders that we’re here to stay.” ∞