Wilmington Savings Fund Society

Type	Public (NASDAQ: WSFS)
Founded	1832
Headquarters	Wilmington, Delaware
Area served	Delaware, Pennsylvania
Key people	Marvin "Skip" Schoenhals, Chairman Mark Turner, CEO
Industry	Financial Services
Products	Banking
Revenue	▲ US$171.2 million FY '05 to '06)
Employees	573
Website	wsfsbank.com

Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB, currently branded as WSFS Bank, is a federal savings bank headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., and is the retail banking subsidiary of WSFS Financial Corporation. The bank operates 30 retail branches in all three counties in Delaware, and Chester and Delaware counties in Pennsylvania. WSFS offers traditional retail banking services such as checking and savings accounts, CDs, consumer mortgages, lines of credit, and home equity loans, and also offers commercial banking services for small businesses, business banking and middle market customers, and for real estate development and investment. WSFS also offers investment products through its subsidiary WSFS Investment Group, and wealth management services through its WSFS Wealth Management subsidiary.

[edit] History

Wilmington Savings Fund Society was chartered as a Delaware thrift in 1832 by a group of Wilmington community leaders and businessmen. The bank was formed for the working citizens of Wilmington to encourage thrift, and safeguard and increase their savings in a community bank. The bank's first day of business was February 18, 1832, in a rented room "one door below" Town Hall on Market Street. The bank grew steadily through the 19th century, and moved locations twice more before constructing their own building at 838 N. Market Street in 1895. The building stood until 1929, when the current building was constructed and opened for business. Three years later the building would receive its landmark mural, Apotheosis of the Family by N. C. Wyeth. The mural, 60'x19', was commissioned by Frederick Stone to celebrate the bank's 100th anniversary, and still hangs in the banking hall today.

WSFS Bank Market Street branch and former headquarters at 838 N. Market Street, Wilmington, DE

WSFS's growth continued in the 1950s and 60s, and was the first bank in the United States to issue debit cards in the late 1960s. By the 1980s, WSFS had expanded from northern New Castle County into Kent and Sussex counties, and went public in March 1990 on the NASDAQ market. By the early 1990s the bank was in poor financial shape, and was near bankruptcy. The Board of Directors hired Marvin "Skip" Schoenhals in 1992, and began a dramatic turnaround. Nearly all of the lower Delaware branches were sold to Wilmington Trust, and lending practices and credit quality were administered more closely.

Over time, the bank gradually strengthened and was reintroduced to Kent County and Sussex County. In 1995, WSFS Bank opened its first branch in Kent County in the new Dover Metro Supermarket since the mass closings of 1991 (this location closed in 2009 due to the closing of Metro, but was relocated across from Target). The first new branch in Sussex County since the closings was in July 2003 in Rehoboth Beach. The banking office was temporarily located in Lighthouse Plaza between Super Giant and Kmart. The branch relocated to its new building behind Super Giant upon completion in June 2004. The new branch location was a prototype and the second built identically to the Fox Run location. The same style for the branch has become the standard for new branch offices being built. New branch locations have since opened in Smyrna, West Dover, Camden, Lewes, Millsboro-Long Neck, Millville, and Selbyville.

WSFS Bank has the largest ATM network in Delaware. The bank has ATMs located in all Happy Harry's Pharmacys and is the exclusive bank with the University of Delaware. WSFS Bank and the University of Delaware offer student banking accounts with the UD#1 Card, which is the identification card for UD students that also doubles as an ATM card. Fee free ATMs are also located in most Grotto Pizza and Food Lion locations. There are over 350 WSFS-owned ATMs in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

In 2007, WSFS Bank moved its corporate headquarters from 838 N. Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware, where it had resided since 1885,^[1] to 500 Delaware Avenue.^[2] The 838 Market Street location is listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places.^[3] The new location is the first multi-tenant building to be constructed in Wilmington since c. 1988.^[4]

[edit] Memberships

WSFS Bank is a member of the FDIC, and is an Equal Housing Lender. WSFS Bank uses STAR, and PLUS for its ATM transactions.

[edit] External links

• WSFS Bank Homepage
• NRHP Site Listing with Photo

[edit] References