A group led by a central Florida banking veteran seeks to establish a de novo in an Orlando suburb that will cater to local businesses’ needs.
The group behind prospective lender Portrait Bank has submitted regulatory applications to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the state of Florida, and the Winter Park-based bank aims to open in the first quarter of 2026, said Erik Weiner, who will be CEO and president of the new bank.
The group has “surpassed $25 million in handshake commitments,” said Weiner, an area native who’s spent nearly 30 years in the banking industry. After initially targeting $30 million, the group is now aiming for between $40 million and $50 million by Dec. 15, given the strong response received, he said in an interview.
Weiner most recently served as president of the central Florida market for Miami-based City National Bank. Prior to that, he worked for BankUnited and Fifth Third. He said he’s observed notable change in customer perceptions of the banking community in the past five years.
“There's been a real dissatisfaction overall with the level of customization, with the creativity of the banks, the banks being proactive to really help and support businesses,” he said. “I felt like it was time to do something different and start a bank that was really focused here, on this community.”
Big banks serve the majority of the central Florida market, and customers of those banks are having a difficult time understanding “how to get the best possible support for their needs in growing their business,” Weiner asserted.
Meanwhile, community banks are disappearing: About seven banks are headquartered in central Florida. In 2000, 38 banks were headquartered in Orlando. “There's been a significant fallout of customer options and diversity of banking options,” Weiner said.
The last de novo in the Orlando area arrived in 2017, Weiner said. More recently, Gala Bank in Ocala, Florida, was established at the end of last year, and BankMiami opened in Miami earlier this year.
The group behind Portrait is anticipating regulatory approvals fairly close to the bank’s targeted opening date, Weiner said. With both the FDIC and state regulators, “it seems like they understand the urgency and the need for new banking options, and helping community banks get started,” he said.
Keith Costello, co-founder and CEO of Fort Lauderdale-based Locality Bank – which recently exited its de novo period after opening in 2022 – said Florida is one of the leading states in new bank formation. He chalked that up to the high degree of bank consolidation occurring in the state and the desire on the part of many local business owners to bank with local lenders.
Echelon Bank, out of Clearwater, Florida, submitted a new deposit insurance application with the FDIC in late July. Although there have been few banks established since the 2007-08 financial crisis, Costello is optimistic about the de novo outlook, given support expressed by legislators and regulators this year for community banks and new bank formation.
Locality raised $38 million when it launched. “Your network and basically the people you know in the community determines how well you’ll do raising money,” said Costello, who’s also chair of the Florida Bankers Association. The lengthy approval process, in which groups are trying to raise funds and not burn through money, is “not an easy thing to navigate,” he said.
Portrait plans to hire 25 people at the outset, Weiner said. Ed Timberlake, also a central Florida banking alum, will serve as chairman of the bank’s 14-member board.
The Portrait group has a letter of intent for a 5,000-square-foot space in Winter Park that would serve as both a headquarters with office space and a branch including a drive-through ATM. “There’s a lot of opportunity to grow from this, as a center hub,” Weiner said.
The community bank plans to cater to small businesses, which Weiner believes are “significantly underserved” in his local market.
Portrait also sees opportunities to take market share in commercial banking, serving customers generating up to $50 million in annual revenue; commercial real estate, where many banks focused on big developers and projects have overlooked smaller real estate opportunities; and private banking, given the wealth segment in the Winter Park area and the opportunity to offer customized lending.
Weiner aims to capitalize on the frustration local businesses feel with their banks.
“Customers are waiting in line with 1-800 numbers, they can't get through to decision makers. They're being stuffed into a box when it comes to their credit underwriting, and there's nobody local for them to go to to even explain their situation,” he said.
He pointed to his experience at City National, which grew assets quickly over a handful of years, pulling mainly from big banks. As market president, Weiner “made it a goal to go on 24 to 30 calls per month for the last several years ... listening directly to the business owners and why they were choosing to make a change over to our bank.”
He’s hoping to mine that as Portrait seeks to draw customers.
There’s a perception that it’s hard to switch banks. “Usually, it requires something to be going on in their business: either they're growing, they need working capital, they're purchasing a building, they need new equipment,” Weiner said. But there’s plenty of that activity in the growing central Florida market, he added.
The Portrait group also sees technology as a way to stand out and attract customers. Some big banks aren’t using the newest technology because “it's very hard to switch and to upgrade, because there's a lot that goes into it, a lot of locations, a lot of employees, a lot of training,” Weiner said. Or they use vendors that don’t offer the most sophisticated or customized platforms or services.
He envisions Portrait tapping modern platforms that put it on par with a regional or national bank, while offering community bank-style service.
To be sure, tech expenses have mounted. “It is expensive, and you have to have a really good understanding of where the expense is going to generate revenue and profitability,” Weiner said.
To account for that, Portrait aims to bank middle-market and larger companies that will bring deposits, have treasury needs and generate fee income, without significant credit needs.
“We feel confident that we can convert enough of those clients, to where it will pay for that technology in spades,” he said.
