Financial Services: Susma Patel

Susma Patel is chairwoman and chief executive officer of First National Bank of Central Florida.

First National Bank of Central Florida is a locally owned community bank with six offices in Florida. The bank’s corporate headquarters is in Winter Park. The bank has approximate assets of $500 million, a $400 million loan portfolio and $400 million in deposits.

Patel has served as chairman of the bank for about two years and became CEO in July following the retirement of Charles W. Hall, who led the bank since October 2000.

First National Bank of Central Florida was founded in 1985 as a full-service commercial bank in Longwood. In 1999, the bank relocated its headquarters to downtown Winter Park. The bank’s income property financing programs include construction, acquisition, rehabilitation and refinance transactions for retail, office, and industrial properties for owner users. Additionally, the bank extends revolving lines of credit, equipment and vehicle loans, and letters of credit to qualified businesses. Its consumer programs include automobile, boat, airplane, CD and securities secured, home equity, and Visa/MasterCard.

The bank has a stated commitment to provide its customers with cutting-edge banking technology. This includes remote deposit capture, e-mail statements and CD ROM statements, Treasury Services, Positive Pay, Internet Banking and Bill Pay.

In May, First National Bank of Central Florida opened its newest branch in Apoka.

This year, Patel led the bank in a “green” campaign by offering business casual days the entire month of August for all of its employees and ensuring the air conditioning at each of its branch locations and departments throughout the organization are turned up two degrees higher than normal to conserve energy. The bank also began using scanners to create electronic copies of documents and a secure e-mail system to reduce paper consumption.

Patel, who is from Greenwich, England, came to the United States in 2001. Her background is in law and she was a practicing lawyer with Clintons, an entertainment and media law firm in London prior to joining First National Bank of Central Florida.

In the late 1990s, Patel became a majority shareholder of First Bancshares Inc., which is the parent company of First National Bank of Central Florida. She served as a director and then chairwoman of that holding company before assuming her role with the bank.

Source