Drew Saito Joins Keith Costello and Corey LeBlanc as Co-Founders of Fort Lauderdale, Florida's Locality Bank IO (a Digital-First Bank in Organization)

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., September 16, 2021 – Locality Bank IO, a digital-first community bank based in Fort Lauderdale, FL, is pleased to announce that banking veteran Drew Saito will bring his banking and financial services experience to the Locality Bank team as a Co-Founder and its Chief Lending Officer. Locality Bank Co-Founders Keith Costello, Corey LeBlanc, and Drew Saito are on a mission to empower local businesses to grow with capital from a community bank.

“I am excited to join forces with Keith Costello and Corey LeBlanc to bring this new type of community bank to South Florida,” said Drew Saito, Co-Founder and Chief Lending Officer of Locality Bank IO. “The digital advancements Locality Bank IO will bring to the community banking industry and the capital it will have available for local businesses will be unparalleled.”

Mr. Saito’s banking and financial services experience spans two decades in South Florida. He began his career in the securities business and in recent years his primary focuses have been in commercial banking, real estate lending, and treasury. Mr. Saito completed the GABV Leadership Academy (a collaboration between the Global Alliance for Banking on Values, the Presencing Institute, and the MIT CoLab). He has previously served as an adjunct faculty member at The Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship at Nova Southeastern University. He has been involved in various community organizations including the United Way of Broward County, Broward Housing Solutions, the Broward Center of Performing Arts, Leadership Broward, the Crockett Foundation, NAIOP, the Urban Land Institute, and served on the City of Fort Lauderdale’s Budget Advisory Board.

In addition to Saito’s announcement as Co-Founder, the digital-first community bank has recently announced their senior management team, a capital raise campaign, and the Final Order of Approval from the Office of Financial Regulation in Florida to open a state-chartered bank in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

“The growing Locality Bank team has the experience to revive community banking in South Florida,” said Keith Costello, CEO & Co-Founder of Locality Bank IO. “Our goal is to empower local businesses to grow with capital from a community bank. We want to provide a digital-first community banking option to local businesses, entrepreneurs and business owners moving to the area, and this will ultimately positively impact our local economy.”

Serving Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties, the bank’s digital services will be available through a mobile application set to launch in the first quarter of 2022. Services will include commercial banking, commercial real estate lending (for owner occupied and investment), SBA lending, and deposit and business treasury services.

Locality Bank IO will operate on a secure cloud-native core banking system with an open API architecture. This modernized system will allow fast iteration and new technological additions to provide a robust and engaging customer experience.

Aimed at empowering local businesses to maximize their potential, Locality Bank IO has a pending application with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and plans to launch their bank by first quarter of 2022.

To stay up to date on the launch of Locality Bank IO in Fort Lauderdale, Florida visit https://www.localitybank.com.

About Locality Bank IO

Locality Bank IO is a digital-first community bank in organization that will be based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The bank will serve small to medium sized businesses by offering the traditional services of a community bank as well as user friendly, cutting edge technology. To learn more, contact Locality Bank IO at https://www.localitybank.com or via email at info@localitybank.com.

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