Lumbee Guaranty Bank is set to open a new branch in Fayetteville on Monday, July 15, meeting customers where they are and becoming a more accessible bank.
Lumbee CEO Kyle R. Chavis said the bank, known for its long history of providing financial services to underserved populations, will be consolidating two other locations in Fayetteville and opening the new branch at 2939 Village Drive.
To open the new location, the bank will be consolidating the Hay Street branch, located at 229 Hay Street and the Hope Mills location located at 3500 N. Main St.
The Hope Mills location has been a long-standing location, first opening its doors in 1991.
“Lumbee Guaranty Bank truly is a community bank and we believe that matters,” Chavis said. “For more than half a century, we’ve been making customers our top priority. We’re not just your bankers, we’re also your friends and neighbors and we understand the needs and goals of customers in the communities we serve. We’ve grown from a single location to 13 branches serving Cumberland, Robeson, Hoke and surrounding counties; and we’ve kept pace with new developments and the latest technology in the banking industry. We work tirelessly to provide valuable, highly competitive financial products, while never losing sight of the excellent, personalized service that has helped us earn the trust and satisfaction of our customers.”
The Village Drive bank will offer full-service banking, including vital financial services such as:
Additionally, Chavis said that what sets Lumbee Guaranty Bank apart is its friendly and personalized service, as well as local and accessible loan officers. Community based loan officers, he noted, allow for quicker, more flexible decision making.
The bank also offers “Lumbee Perks” personal checking accounts, which feature discounts, health savings, cell phone protection and services that aid with identity theft cases.
“We wanted a location that would be better accessible for our customers,” Chavis said. “Accessibility, parking and just the general location of Hope Mills and Hay Street made it difficult for our customers to access the bank. So we thought that Village Drive would solve a lot of these issues.”
Some of those accessibility issues stem from circumstances outside the bank’s control. For instance, the Hope Mills location had constant road construction, shrinking the ingress and egress points to the bank. The Hope Mills location will close down Aug. 2.
Similarly, the Hay Street location opened in February of 2020, very close to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. That branch will be closing down on July 12.
“That was just unfortunate timing for us,” Chavis noted. “But we’ve not been able to attract the foot traffic downtown that we had and basically projected without having a drive through there. We just felt like it would be best for us to try to find a location that would solve some of these issues in terms of accessibility and convenience. Village Drive has ample parking in a well-traveled area, drive up ATM and multiple drive throughs. We are hoping that will be attractive to new and existing customers.”
Chavis said the bank will be relocating employees of both of the consolidating locations, leading to no job losses during the transition and the bank will continue to offer top-rate services to all.
“We will be absorbing those employees into the new location, but a couple of them will also be transferred to other branches within our system,” said Chavis. “The bank is continuing to grow overall. Fayetteville is the fastest growing market that we have, both in loans and deposits.”
Since 2022, Chavis said the bank has grown its loan portfolio by nearly 20% and the deposit base by more than 6%.
“This is compared to overall loan growth across the bank of just over 10% and deposit growth bank wide of just under 5% during the same time period,” Chavis noted.
The bank’s history, Chavis shared, is partially laid on a foundation of providing financial services to underserved populations. When the bank opened in 1971, it was the first Native American-owned bank in the country.
“If you were a member of the Lumbee Tribe in Pembroke, you had to drive 10-15 miles east to Lumberton if you wanted any banking services before [the bank opened in 1971],” Chavis said. “The bank has grown substantially since then. We’re the only community bank headquartered in rural southeastern North Carolina.”
The bank primarily services Robeson, Hoke and Cumberland Counties.
Those services have since expanded and now Lumbee Guaranty Bank is focused on also helping small business owners.
“We have grown into a full service bank, and one of our taglines is a bank for everyone. We still hold to our mission of serving an underbanked population, which we consider rural southeastern North Carolina to be. We are one of about 40 banks that are still chartered in North Carolina and that’s down from over 100, just a few years ago. We think we’re pretty unique. We absolutely are committed to continuing to serve these communities,” concluded Chavis.
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Learn More about Lumbee Guaranty Bank and their services at www.lumbeeguarantybank.com.
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