5 minute read

Movement Bank

Movement Bank A Purpose Bigger Than Banking Movement Bank was born in 1919 as the Savings Bank of Danville, located in Virginia, and founded by Samuel Moses and a group of black pastors, doctors, teachers, and farmers in the basement of a church. With $20,000, Samuel and his team formed a bank to serve the underserved community that had been shut out of the banking system in the era of Jim Crow-enforced segregation. By 1920, the bank had nearly $1 million in total assets. In 1953, the Savings Bank of Danville changed its name to First State Bank, which continued to maintain strong capital ratios, keeping bank expenditures low.

In 2017, the bank changed its name to Movement Bank. Currently overseen by President and CEO David Rupp, its mission remains the same and continues to right many of the wrongs in the current financial system, the largest of these being predatory fees, such as Insufficient Fund Fees. Yes, you read that right; Movement Bank does not charge NSF fees! The bank also does not charge ATM fees anywhere in the US. If you are charged an ATM fee at the point of transaction, fees and surcharges are reversed at the end of the business day.

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Movement Bank's mission is to love and serve all people with A Purpose Bigger Than Banking. It aims to bridge the wealth divide, connect those with resources to those who have been excluded, and transform communities through long-term investment in businesses, housing, and education.

The bank offers a comprehensive suite of products and services, including checking, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit for individuals and businesses. The bank also specializes in mortgage lending, home equity, personal loans for individuals, lines of credit, and commercial and real estate financing for businesses. The bank also offers online and mobile banking, credit and debit cards, and a range of traditional services that most banks offer.

Movement Bank supports educational and community investment initiatives through its nonprofit affiliate, Movement Foundation. Headquartered in Danville, Virginia, Movement Bank operates branch locations in Fort Mill, South Carolina, and Randleman, North Carolina. The bank also has operational offices in Asheboro, Asheville, Charlotte, Greensboro, Greenville, and Raleigh, North Carolina.

The team in the Randleman branch is very familiar to the community. Most of them have spent a significant amount of their career serving the residents of Randleman and Randolph County, and they are looking forward to seeing many familiar faces.

Wayne Rowe is the Market Executive and has been in banking for over 15 years. He began his career as a teller at Randolph Bank in September 2007. He moved up through the ranks from Customer Service Rep to Assistant Branch Manager before being promoted to Branch Manager. He worked in the Randleman branch from 2011 to 2016, when he returned to the East Dixie Drive branch as the manager and continued to work there through all the recent mergers and changes until December 2021.

Mike Whitehead, the former president of Randolph Bank, contacted Wayne and asked him to consider coming to Movement Bank. Wayne had worked closely with Mike in the past and trusted his judgment. He was very familiar with the town of Randleman and its citizens and was happy to accept the position and be a part of bringing true community banking back to Randleman and Randolph County. "Our experienced local team is excited to serve Randleman and the surrounding areas. We are proud to launch a full-service commercial bank with a legacy rooted in service. Our commitment is to partner with a great community of people and play our part in the economic growth that is expected for Randleman." Wayne

Amber Southard is the Assistant Branch Manager and is also very familiar with the Randleman market. Through her years with Community One, and through the transition first to Capital Bank and then First Horizon, she worked as Personal Banker in Asheboro to Branch Manager of the Ramseur branch, and then to Branch operations at the main office in Asheboro. Amber recently left banking for a short time and helped out in the family business, Hop's BBQ. In that position, she realized she missed the daily interactions with her customers. She was very excited to accept Wayne's offer to become part of the opening team at Movement Bank. "I love the atmosphere of this bank. Our team became instant family, and with the Christianbased values the bank has, it was a great fit. We are encouraged to make suggestions, which are actually considered and implemented to improve our service to our customers."

Lisa Hayes is from Seagrove but worked at Randolph Bank as a part-time teller at both the East Dixie Branch and Asheboro locations. She moved to the Randleman branch when it was the Bank of North Carolina and worked with Wayne there. She moved back to the downtown location when it became Pinnacle. She loves the idea of working for a hometown bank and was excited to return to serving the Randleman community and seeing many familiar faces.

Luis Sanchez began as a teller with Capital Bank in 2017 before becoming part of the opening team for Truliant Federal Credit Union in their North Asheboro location. He was a teller there before becoming a Personal Banker for the branch. Wayne was familiar with Luis and recruited him for the opening team at Movement. "There are a lot of banks out there, but the culture of love and serve is what spoke to me. If you deal with customers, the love and serve philosophy should always be front and center.", said Luis. Since Luis has been at Movement Bank, he has seen the love and serve philosophy demonstrated in each customer transaction.

With a strong team in place, Movement Bank opened in Randleman in late January on Main Street in the former Wells Fargo building. They are fulfilling their mission of providing services to underserved communities by opening branches where other large banks are pulling out. With the additional Randleman branch staff, Movement Bank currently has 47 employees. They are open to adding new branch locations across their footprint as opportunities arise, but they do not have specific quotas to fill.

Movement Bank welcomes the community to come visit the bank and learn more about their services in a Grand Opening event on April 19th. Beginning with a ribbon-cutting at 5:30 pm with the Randleman Chamber of Commerce, there will be music and food, and the staff will be on hand to answer questions and give tours of the bank and its services. All are welcome to attend.

Movement Bank is located at 117 South Main Street in Randleman. Visit them online at www.movementbank.com or call the branch at 336.800.0373. Better yet, stop in and see for yourself the new face of banking in Randolph County.