WSFS Bank

Early 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 a smaller version of this mural still hangs in the bank's new headquarters at 500 Delaware Avenue in Wilmington.

1950s to early 1990s

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 1986 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 1990, 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.

Mid-1990s to present

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 since the 1991 closings in the new Dover Metro Supermarket. The first new branch in Sussex County since the closings opened in Rehoboth Beach in July 2003 and moved to its current location in June 2004. New branch locations have since opened in Camden, Canterbury, Harrington, Lewes, Long Neck, Milford, Millsboro, Ocean View, Seaford, Selbyville, Smyrna, West Dover and Wyoming.

WSFS Bank has the largest ATM network in Delaware. The bank has ATMs located in all Delaware Walgreens pharmacies. Fee free ATMs are also located in most Grotto Pizza locations, Walmarts, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Food Lion locations. There are over 450 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, to 500 Delaware Avenue. The 838 Market Street location is listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places. At the time it was built, the new location was the first multi-tenant building to be constructed in Wilmington since the late 1980s.

WSFS steered through the Great Recession and came out stronger than before. In 2010, WSFS began to expand further into southeastern Pennsylvania with the relocation of the Glen Mills branch. Opened since then are their locations in Edgmont, Kennett Square, Media and West Chester.

In 2011, WSFS celebrated its 25th Anniversary on NASDAQ. Continued growth came with the opening of a new regional headquarters and branch at the corners of Kirkwood Highway and Route 7 in Delaware in 2012.

In 2015, WSFS was named a "Top Workplace" for the 10th year in a row by the Wilmington News Journal. It was also announced that WSFS was voted #1 Bank in Delaware by readers of the Wilmington News Journal and delawareonline.com in their annual Readers' Choice Awards for 2015. This was the fifth consecutive year that WSFS was honored with this award.

Operations

WSFS offers traditional retail banking services such as checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, 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 WSFS Wealth Investments, and wealth and trust management services through Christiana Trust.

Acquisitions

In 2010, WSFS Bank acquired Christiana Bank & Trust company and integrated the trust division as part of WSFS's Wealth Management division. The trust business has grown steadily since 2010 and now has more than $10 billion under administration. Christiana Trust provides full service wealth management to individuals including brokerage, trust, investment management and banking products. The Christiana Trust division also services corporations through corporate trust services.

In 2013, it was announced that WSFS purchased Array Financial Group, Inc., a Delaware Valley mortgage banking company and a related entity, Arrow Land Transfer Company (Arrow), an abstract and title company. Both are headquartered in nearby Haverford, Pennsylvania.

In December 2013, WSFS announced the acquisition of The First National Bank of Wyoming and was granted approval by the OCC in June 2014 to complete the purchase of the bank, which was headquartered in Wyoming, Delaware. WSFS completed the acquisition in September 2014.

WSFS announced in April 2015 that it would acquire Alliance Bank, headquartered in Broomall, Pennsylvania and was granted approval by the OCC in September 2015. Alliance Bank has eight branches and reported approximately $421 million in assets, $310 million in loans and $345 million in deposits as of December 2014. The merger was complete in October 2015, giving WSFS 17 locations in southeastern Pennsylvania, including 11 in Delaware County.

In November 2015, WSFS announced it would acquire Penn Liberty Bank, headquartered in Wayne, Pennsylvania. It received all approvals to complete the acquisition in April 2016. The merger was completed in August 2016. WSFS Bank now has over 70 offices including 24 locations in southeastern Pennsylvania, significantly strengthening WSFS' market position in that region.

Also in August 2016, WSFS acquired Powdermill Financial Solutions, LLC. Powdermill is a multi-family office located in Wilmington, Delaware and serves an affluent clientele in the local community and throughout the United States. The firm specializes in providing unique, independent solutions to high net worth individuals, families and corporate executives through a coordinated, centralized approach.

WSFS announced in October 2016 that it acquired Philadelphia-based West Capital Management, which operates under a multi-family office philosophy and provides fully customized solutions tailored to the unique needs of institutions and high-net-worth individuals. West Capital’s proprietary Tripod™ relationship model focuses on collaboration among its distinct Advisory, Investment Research and Wealth Planning departments.

Memberships

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