Imperial grows in Carson City from nationwide deposit flow

Imperial Capital Bank held a 1.7 percent share of the market for bank deposits in Carson City at the middle of last year.

But San Diego-based Imperial expanded its share to 16.13 percent by June 30 of this year, the biggest leap among banks in the Carson City area.

It jumped 11 places to occupy second position behind the market leader Wells Fargo Bank, which has a deposit share of 18.4 percent.

"It didn't happen through organic growth," says George H.Haligowski, president and chief executive officer of ITLA Capital Corp., parent company of the bank.

It operates branches in California and Nevada along with loan production offices around country.

Very similar to the operations of the Reno-based Charles Schwab Bank, Imperial Capital Bank's Carson City operation consolidates all its non-California deposits, the customers of which are serviced through a call center with eight employees.

According to Haligowski, Imperial Capital Bank is one of the top 10 banks in the country in sales of certificates of deposit as it offers high interest rates.

"We're getting deposits from all over the country,"Haligowski says.

The Carson City operation also has a traditional branch that offers products such checking accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and money market deposit accounts along with retail loans, credit cards and debit cards.

The mainstream branch of the bank in Carson City,Haligowski points out, is not of a significant size as compared to the non- California deposits that flow to the call center.

Choosing Carson City allowed Imperial Capital Bank to get an entry into the Nevada marketplace, he says.

But the reasons, he adds, for setting up the call center operations were the usual ones that led businesses to flock to northern Nevada: Labor costs tend to be lower than they are in California; low rents and housing costs influenced in consolidating a laborintensive operation in Carson City; and significant tax breaks in Nevada encourages people to deposit in the state.

Though nothing has been planned at this particular time, but "in the future we'd like to entertain the possibility of going into the Las Vegas market,"Haligowski says.