FRANKLIN, MASSACHUSETTS,
July 23, 2007

While community bankers in Japan want the individuals and businesses in the communities they serve to be successful, the way they contribute to this success is much different than that of their U.S. counterparts. Dean Bank stepped forward to give a delegation of Japanese bankers the advice and the tools they needed to serve their communities in Japan.

On Tuesday, July 10th, from 9:00am – 12:00pm, a delegation of 19 from Japan, including directors & managers from two Japanese community banks and a representative from a Japanese financial news publisher visited Dean Bank to learn how U.S. community banks connect with the local communities, as well as how they compete against and differentiate themselves from their large national bank competitors.

The Kinyu Keizai Press Company, a publisher of financial news is Japan, organized a delegation of members from Banshu Shinkin Bank and Tajima Shinkin Bank to travel to the U.S. and learn about community banking trends. They sought the assistance of Technical Visits International (TVi), an international research and consulting firm based in Los Angeles that coordinates and arranges study missions and educational tour programs to North America.

The delegation, interested in visiting banks that have excellent reputations for active participation and service to their communities, chose Dean Bank of Franklin, MA as part of their tour. Dean Bank was a recipient of an Honorable Mention from the 2006 Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA)’s National Community Bank Service Awards. Just like Dean Bank, Shinkin banks in Japan are financial institutions that operate under the fundamental principle of mutuality. Unlike stock banks, Shinkin banks in Japan and Dean Bank are able to pour their profits back into their communities, instead of into the wallets of stock holders.

A general overview and tour of Dean Bank was followed by a Q&A session on many topics of interest to these Japanese community bankers. The Japanese sought Dean Bank’s advice on strategies and policies to connect with the local community, methods to successfully compete with large national bank chains, management and security of customers’ personal information, how to increase efficiency and performance, the role played in the local housing/mortgage market and the role played helping regenerate small business and revitalizing the local community, among other topics as well.

After the Q&A session, the Japanese bankers exchanged business cards with the members of Dean Bank’s management team, taking the time to read each one very carefully, something that is very important in Japanese business culture. Dean Bank then gave each member of the delegation a portfolio pad with the Bank’s logo, a box of gourmet chocolates and a Red Sox baseball as parting gifts before they boarded the bus for Boston to continue their tour visiting banks in New York City and Minneapolis. 

Dean Bank, founded in 1889, is a Massachusetts state-chartered, mutually owned institution with assets in excess of $200 million. The bank has offices located in Franklin, Blackstone, Bellingham, and Mendon and a full-service educational and training facility at Tri-County Regional Vocational High School in Franklin. As a member of the FDIC and a member of the SIF, the bank’s deposits are insured in full.

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