For 2020, Cross River Bank Says It Will Increase Collaboration to Grow New Jersey’s Fintech Ecosystem
By Phil Goldfeder, Senior Vice President, Cross River Bank
As part of our end-of-year coverage this year, NJTechWeekly.com asked some New Jersey startups and established companies to look into their crystal balls and tell us what’s ahead for them in 2020.
Cross River Bank is a fintech and innovation leader headquartered in Fort Lee. For 2020, Cross River says it will emphasize collaboration among businesses, stakeholders and policymakers to help fintech innovation thrive in New Jersey.
In 2008, while most banks were slow to recover from the financial crisis and provide access to credit, Cross River opened its doors in Teaneck with a clean balance sheet and fresh capital to deploy to consumers in need. While our growth in fintech and innovation has expanded our national footprint, our commitment to New Jersey today remains as strong as the day we opened our doors.
What began as a single branch has evolved into a thriving institution and technology leader, with over 250 employees and a bustling headquarters in Fort Lee. Thanks to a Grow NJ grant from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, we continued our expansion in Fort Lee by acquiring a 70,000-square-foot facility, further solidifying our roots in New Jersey. This new headquarters will not only house the current team members, but also an anticipated 200 additional employees.
Working with New Jersey to attract talent and drive the state forward as a leader in technology has been an integral part of our efforts to give back. In June, together with the New Jersey Tech Council, we hosted “Growing NJ’s Fintech Ecosystem,” a forum that convened elected officials, businesspeople, representatives of community organizations and New Jersey leaders to discuss the value the fintech industry brings and how to broaden opportunities within the state.
Cross River is on the ground, working with regulators and policymakers at the federal and state levels to educate and provide best practices for the banking and technology industries here. For us, it’s integral to ensure that businesses and government work hand-in-hand to provide consumers access to credit in a responsible way, just as when we started 11 years ago.
As a bank that has built its roots in New Jersey, we have witnessed firsthand how the state’s support has played an integral role in propelling the industry. We have demonstrated our ability to innovate while adhering to the strictest of regulations. Our focus on innovation earned us the “Technology Company of the Year” award from the New Jersey Tech Council, and our focus on the community earned us recognition as “Corporate Citizen of the Year” from NJBIZ.
Our work in 2019, coming out of a strong first decade of growth, is sure to continue in 2020. At the top of our agenda in the coming year is increasing collaboration among businesses, stakeholders and policymakers. As a company born in Teaneck, raised in Fort Lee and thriving thanks to the help and partnership of our neighbors, we are excited about what the future holds for financial services and the state of New Jersey.
