A bank that grew up without forgetting where it started
In 1972 Rielora Capital opened one branch above a hardware store with $2.1M in deposits. Fifty-three years later we hold $84.2B in assets — and we still publish the direct line of every regional credit officer.
1972
Chartered in Rochester, New York
$84.2B
Total assets
Up 6.8% year on year
4,820
Colleagues
Across four regions
$1.4B
Community lending
Committed since 2019
96%
Customer retention
Rolling twelve months
Growth that never outran the service model
Plenty of banks scale by removing people. We scaled by hiring them — and by keeping credit decisions in the region where the borrower actually lives.
One branch, one town
Rielora Capital opens in Rochester with eleven staff and $2.1M in deposits, lending almost entirely to local manufacturers and first-time buyers.
Into commercial lending
A dedicated commercial desk opens. Rielora Capital survives the early-nineties credit squeeze without a single branch closure — a fact the founders never let anyone forget.
Four regions, four committees
Rather than centralise, we devolve credit authority to New York, Chicago, Austin and San Francisco. Decisions get faster and default rates fall.
Digital, without closing branches
The Rielora Capital app launches. Unusually, branch headcount grows alongside it — we moved staff from back-office processing to the front counter instead of cutting them.
$84.2B and still answering the phone
480,000 households, 26,000 businesses, 142 branches — and a median eleven-minute wait to reach a named banker on the commercial line.
Four commitments we can be held to
Values are only worth printing if someone can point at them when you fall short. These are ours, in the form we publish them internally.
Say the number first
Rates, fees and total cost go at the top of the page, not in a footnote. If a product is expensive, we say so and explain who it suits.
Decide where the customer is
Regional credit committees mean a Texas manufacturer is assessed by people who have visited Texas manufacturers. Facilities under $2M clear in five business days.
Answer, don't deflect
Every commercial customer gets a named banker and a direct line. Complaints get a case handler and a fifteen-day resolution target, published quarterly.
Reinvest where we take deposits
$1.4B committed to affordable housing and small-business credit in our four regions since 2019, reported against publicly every March.
Deposits raised here get lent here
Our Community Reinvestment programme is not a marketing budget — it is a lending commitment, measured in loans written and reported alongside our financial results.
Judged by people who read the small print
2026
Forbes Best Banks
Top ten, regional category
★★★★★
J.D. Power
Small-business satisfaction
A2
Moody's rating
Outlook stable, affirmed 2026
ISO
27001 certified
Plus SOC 2 Type II, PCI DSS L1
Come and see whether we live up to any of this
Open an account online in five minutes, or book 45 minutes with a banker at any of our four regional offices.