Cross River Bank has appointed three new board members to help bolster its growth, risk management, and technology innovation, the bank announced Monday.
The Fort Lee, New Jersey-based bank’s move follows the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s recent sweeps on bank-fintech partnerships. In May 2023, the FDIC issued a consent order alleging that Cross River Bank engaged in “unsafe and unsound” practices related to fair lending and regulations.
Though Cross River did not admit or deny the charges, according to the consent order, it cannot enter into new partnerships with third parties or offer new credit products without the FDIC’s approval.
Roland Fryer, Richard Laxer, and Gabrielle Vitale joined the bank’s board effective July 1.
“The addition of these three leaders and their diverse expertise will allow us to strengthen our capabilities in several specific focus areas, including risk management, data, technology, and corporate governance,” Gilles Gade, founder, CEO, and chairman of Cross River, said in an email to Banking Dive.
The roughly $9 billion asset bank is one of the largest banking-as-a-service providers, offering underlying banking services for various payments, fintech, and crypto firms. The lender has provided access to credit through the firms to nearly 100 million consumers and is on the way to its one billionth payments transaction, the company noted.
Fryer is a professor of economics at Harvard University and founder of Equal Opportunity Ventures, an early-stage seed fund and several startups.
Laxer, a GE Capital veteran who retired in 2018 as CEO and chairman after a 34-year tenure, held numerous executive roles across the U.S., Asia, and Europe while working at the company.
Vitale is a recently retired executive and chief ethics and compliance officer at American Express, where she served as a member of audit and risk committees for both the bank and the holding company, and as a global operational risk officer, among other roles.
The latest appointments also follow Cross River Bank’s recent foray into investment banking. In February, the lender tapped Henry Pinnell, a Silicon Valley Bank alum, to co-lead the investment banking unit with Benjamin Samuels, a Morgan Stanley veteran Cross River hired last year.
Cross River clarified its investment banking strategy as “doubling down on its commitment to serving the fintech community,” advising clients on mergers and acquisitions, capital markets transactions, and other corporate finance matters, the company said in a statement at the time.
“Roland, Rich and Gabby have everything we need to take our success to date and, working through our great executive team, drive us further and faster. We welcome them wholeheartedly,” Phillip Riese, lead independent director of Cross River’s board, said in a statement Monday.
