Chief Executive Officer, President & Director, Dime Community Bancshares
Search every verified Stuart Lubow interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Stuart Lubow, president and CEO of Dime Community Bancshares, discussed the bank's transition from a "sleepy Thrift Savings Bank" to a "vibrant relationship Commercial Bank" since he joined in 2017. He stated that the bank received an "outstanding CRA rating" and that it grew deposits by $1.5 billion while other banks struggled, adding that Dime hired teams and built out lending teams to take advantage of the opportunity. Lubow said the bank is focused on building a diversified commercial business, including C&I and healthcare lending, moving beyond a monoline multifamily lending business. Lubow described community banking as "even more important than it's ever been" due to the dominance of large institutions, and said the key challenge is balancing regulation and service with shareholder profitability and customer satisfaction. He predicted more M&A in the industry, creating opportunities for Dime to serve customers displaced by recent bank mergers and failures. Lubow credited the bank's team and customers for its successholidays.
“I joined the bank in 2017 and my goal at that point and my responsibility was really to turn the bank into a vibrant relationship Commercial Bank. Prior to that Dime had been a kind of a sleepy Thrift Savings Bank and I joined the bank to turn it into a Commercial Bank with a new philosophy of relationship and Communit...”
“Community banking today is even more important than it's ever been. There are fewer Community Banks; the banking industry is now dominated by large institutions. We have local decision makers as opposed to someone underwriting a loan remotely, so we're really part of the community and try to service our customers as su...”
“We're really focused on building and continuing to build a commercial relationship business, our C&I business, our healthcare business, and diversifying away from just what was a monoline business of multifamily lending to having a full-service diversified Business Bank.”
“I think you're going to see more M&A and so you're going to see smaller banks getting bigger. There'll be more opportunity for Dime to service those customers that are displaced and disrupted here in the New York metropolitan area due to recent mergers and failures of local banks.”
“We're one of the few banks that during this whole period we've grown deposits by $1.5 billion. While other banks were struggling, we went on the offensive, hired teams, brought in new customers, new deposit relationships, and built out additional lending teams to take advantage of the opportunity.”
“Community Banks are always looking toward how do we service the customers. Today there's a cost, so some of the issues are really how do you balance regulation and service with satisfying your shareholders and profitability, while also satisfying your customers.”
“Dime got an outstanding CRA rating meaning we are giving back to the community. There are not very many banks that get an outstanding CRA rating and we're proud of that.”
“I really enjoy the entrepreneurial aspect of building a bank and building an organization profitably and maximizing value for our shareholders.”
“When Dime started, Abraham Lincoln was the president of the United States. It's quite an honor to be part of an institution that's been around since the Civil War, survived world wars, depressions, and is still here servicing the community.”
“I'd like to be remembered as someone that brought Dime to the next level, from a savings bank to a community commercial bank, making it the most profitable, successful, customer-oriented community commercial bank in the country.”
Stuart Lubow, CEO of Dime Community Bank | CEOs You Should Know.
Sign in to search the full transcript archive, filter by topic, and access every quote from Stuart Lubow.
The summary and quote tags on this profile are produced with AI assistance from verified, first-person interview transcripts, then checked by our team to confirm the speaker's identity and the accuracy of every quote. See how we verify →