Calling it the finishing touch on a highly eventful year, Ascendia Bank, the 100-year-old financial institution formerly known as Glen Rock Savings Bank, began operations in its spacious new headquarters in Glen Rock on Monday.
The headquarters, at 11 Harristown Road, will be the hub for all of the four-branch bank’s operations, including offices for senior executives, financial accounting personnel, Bank Secrecy Act/Compliance Department and commercial and residential lending teams.
The new headquarters will not function as a full-fledged branch, with its customer-facing services geared solely for commercial and residential mortgage lending initiatives. Notably, mortgage lending services will continue to also be available at each Ascendia Bank branch, as the additional space is meant to address both recent and anticipated growth.
For Ascendia Bank, the expanded footprint is a birthday gift to itself: In October, the institution marked its 100th anniversary with celebrations at its four branches — one in Glen Rock, one in Hawthorne and two in West Orange.
Earlier this year, the bank refreshed its corporate identity by rebranding from its former Glen Rock Savings Bank name, a nod to its broader geographic reach and breadth of modern banking services, including internet banking, online bill pay, a mobile banking application and commercial real estate lending.
CEO Fred Viaud called the new headquarters the perfect present.
“The modern headquarters and expanded mortgage lending team is the next step in our ongoing evolution, one that has marked milestones with new services, new financial products and, now, new infrastructure — all to the benefit of our valued customers,” he said.
