A Harlem bank outgrows its neighborhood
In April 1863, while the Civil War was still being fought, a group of Harlem businesspeople gathered to establish a savings institution for their community. The result was Haarlem Savings Bank. The bank dropped the second “a” from its name in 1933. The FDIC records April 17, 1863 as the establishment date of the institution now known as Apple Bank, certificate 16068. [1][3]
The bank’s geography widened as New York grew. In 1983, Harlem Savings Bank combined with Central Savings Bank, bringing together two institutions with long histories in the city. The combination shaped the network that became Apple Bank, extending through the boroughs, Westchester and Long Island. The flagship building at Broadway and West 73rd Street, completed in 1928, remains a visible link to that earlier savings-bank era. [3]
In 1989, the acquisition of Sag Harbor Savings Bank carried the business farther into eastern Long Island. Another large expansion came in 2013, when Apple Bank acquired 29 Emigrant Bank locations. That was a purchase of branches, not the acquisition of Emigrant Bank as a whole. The distinction explains how Apple Bank could enlarge its neighborhood network while the seller remained a separate institution. [3]
Adding New Jersey and a digital doorway
Apple Bank’s 2023 expansion paired two approaches to reaching customers. It opened New Jersey branches in Englewood and Iselin and launched a digital branch for new customers in New York and New Jersey. One initiative added places to meet a banker; the other allowed customers to establish a relationship without living near an office. Both continued the bank’s regional focus. [3]
The bank’s current company page identifies Steve Bush as chief executive and describes more than 75 branches in New York and New Jersey, with operations and its customer contact center based in New York. Customers can use checking accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit and mobile banking. The bank presents local service as a defining feature, although statements about service quality are its own description rather than a measured comparison with competitors. [3]
Its current savings products illustrate how branch banking and digital tools now fit together. The Choice Money Market account offers check-writing and debit-card access alongside savings interest; linked checking activity and qualifying balances can earn a preferred rate. Published rates and eligibility conditions can change. The durable point is the relationship model: customers can keep everyday payments and reserves at the same institution rather than using the branch solely to make a deposit. [7]
A small service reveals the local business
Apple Bank also handles a distinctly New York banking task: security deposits for tenants in multi-unit buildings. Its landlord-tenant service keeps tenant subaccounts, produces detailed monthly statements by property and prepares year-end tax forms. Landlords can reimburse tenants from a lease-security checking account, while direct tenant access is restricted. This is an example of the administrative work a bank can perform around a deposit, beyond paying interest on it. [6]
For a property manager, the underlying problem is keeping many separate tenant balances and records organized. For the bank, the service connects commercial customers, recurring paperwork and deposit accounts. The bank advertises this as a way to reduce administration; the actual service terms govern the relationship. The product helps explain why a branch-based savings institution can have business relationships more specialized than its familiar neighborhood signs suggest. [6]
The neighborhood bank and the aircraft factory
A July 30, 2020 announcement from the Export-Import Bank of the United States shows another side of Apple Bank. During the pandemic, foreign customers could not take delivery of aircraft they had ordered from Embraer Executive Aircraft’s Melbourne, Florida manufacturing operation. Delayed deliveries interrupted revenue while the manufacturer still needed money to keep operating. The federal export-credit agency approved a $97.2 million working-capital guarantee connected to a one-year revolving facility from Apple Bank for Savings. [5]
The agency’s guarantee covered 90% of the facility. Apple Bank was the lender, Embraer’s operation was the borrower, and the federal agency supplied the guarantee; those are three different roles. A revolving line lets a business draw, repay and reuse funds within its agreement, bridging the timing gap between expenses and customer receipts. The announcement identified this as Apple Bank’s first use of that particular working-capital program, while describing it as an established lender for other federally guaranteed aircraft exports. [5]
EXIM estimated that the transaction would support approximately $211.4 million in export sales and 800 U.S. jobs. Those were estimates attached to a 2020 approval, not verified job outcomes or a claim that the one-year facility remains outstanding in 2026. The episode nevertheless supplies a concrete example of the bank’s wider commercial activity: deposits gathered through a regional institution can support financing well beyond the neighborhoods containing its branches. [5]
The parent and the bank report different profits
Apple Financial Holdings owns 100% of Apple Bank, according to the bank’s financial-information page. The holding company is distinct from the insured institution where customers hold deposits. The same page reports approximately $63 million of bank net income for 2025 and $59 million for the parent, illustrating why the two reporting levels should not be casually combined. [4]
The bank’s detailed 2025 statement reports $19.226 billion of assets, $15.710 billion of deposits and $1.577 billion of shareholders’ equity. It earned $62.959 million and paid $38 million of cash dividends during the year. Its report also records $8.518 million of loan and $0.528 million of recoveries. Apple Bank describes a record of more than 30 consecutive profitable years, but that does not mean there have been no credit losses within those years. [4]
The financial page is a bank-published statement attested by chief financial officer Jonathan Brickman. It expressly says the FDIC has not reviewed or confirmed that statement’s accuracy or relevance. That disclosure belongs alongside the figures: publication on the bank’s website is evidence of what the bank reported, not a separate regulatory endorsement. [4]
The insured bank at June 30, 2026
The more recent FDIC financial record reports $19.887 billion of assets, $16.131 billion of deposits, $13.757 billion of net loans and leases, and $1.603 billion of equity on June 30, 2026. First-half net income was $38.302 million. These values are converted from the FDIC’s thousands-of-dollars fields; the income number is for six months, not an annual result or a standalone second quarter. [2]
Real-estate loans totaled $6.853 billion, approximately 49.6% of gross loans and leases, while commercial and industrial loans were $2.637 billion and securities were $4.158 billion. Those broad categories do not identify how much of the current portfolio is aircraft-related. They do show that the present savings bank cannot be understood solely as a collection of household mortgage loans. Its long history links regional deposit gathering, acquisitions, customer administration and several forms of commercial finance. [2]
Sources
- FDIC institution directory, October 2, 2026 index; reviewed October 5Official sourceBack to text: ↑
- FDIC June 30, 2026 bank financials; dollar fields in thousands; income year to dateOfficial sourceBack to text: ↑1↑2
- Apple Bank official history and current company overview; reviewed October 5, 2026SourceBack to text: ↑1↑2↑3↑4↑5
- Apple Bank financial information for December 31, 2025; bank and parent reporting distinguishedSourceBack to text: ↑1↑2↑3
- EXIM working-capital guarantee for Apple Bank aircraft financing, July 30, 2020; historical approval and agency estimatesOfficial sourceBack to text: ↑1↑2↑3
- Apple Bank landlord-tenant lease-security service; reviewed October 5, 2026SourceBack to text: ↑1↑2↑3
- Apple Bank Choice Money Market account; product terms reviewed October 5, 2026; displayed rates dated October 1SourceBack to text: ↑