How Mary Usategui Brought Community Banking Back to Miami

BankMiami's CEO discusses her journey from part-time banker to de novo founder, earning regulators' trust, and why a board can make or break a bank. Also, Durbin gets sneaky and fintech funding rises.

Happy … Tuesday, Bank Slaters!

How was your Memorial Day weekend? Does this mean summer is officially underway?

We’re already lining up a busy fall schedule. For instance, we’ll be at the Banking Transformation Summit in Charlotte, Nov. 17-18, where 1,000 attendees will gather for some great networking and presentations from 100 speakers. You can secure your ticket by clicking here (use the code TheBankSlate20 to save 20%).

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Let’s talk about BankMiami and CEO Mary Usategui.

BankMiami became the nation’s newest bank when it opened on March 17. While Five Rivers Bank in New Jersey quickly took over the distinction of being the youngest bank when it opened earlier this month, BankMiami can still boast that it is the first bank to open in Miami since 2008.

Launching a new bank is no easy feat. De novo activity remains sparse, with only a handful of charters approved each year. In Washington, industry leaders continue to press lawmakers and regulators to streamline the path for new entrants—a challenge Usategui knows firsthand after helping steer BankMiami from concept to charter.

Before launching BankMiami, Usategui was chief strategy officer at Seacoast Bank and CFO at Professional Bank, where she helped guide the company through its IPO. Her journey from teller to CEO is marked by persistence, vision, and a strong sense of community purpose.

Usategui was invited to testify in Washington in front of the House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions, where she shared her experience founding BankMiami and what areas could be improved to spur more de novo efforts. A constant theme in her testimony involved the challenges created by substantial upfront capital requirements.

We spoke with Usategui about her path to leadership, the challenges of starting a bank in the current climate, and why she believes Washington is becoming more receptive to new bank formation. Here is an edited transcript.