A bank and community team player

RMA Journal, The, May, 2003 by Carol McGinn

Timothy Abell, president, Fleet Bank Pennsylvania

Timothy Abell has spent his 20-year banking career involved in some aspect of commercial lending, and all of it in the Philadelphia area.

Abell started his career at Continental Bank, completing its credit training program, then spending time in real estate, workouts, and commercial lending. When Continental became Midlantic, he managed the bank's asset-based lending function. At Prime Bank, he was responsible for commercial lending teams. He stayed with Prime, through its transition to Summit and now to Fleet. Currently, Abell is president of Fleet Bank in Pennsylvania, where he oversees business financial services activities in Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey for companies with sales of $2 million to $1 billion.

As a regional executive for the bank, Abell is also responsible for ensuring that the bank is engaged in community activities and doing the right things with respect to contributions, volunteerism, and community reinvestment.

"I have several lending teams that report to me, says Abell. "A favorite part of my day is making calls with relationship managers, getting together with customers. You get different ideas from customers and can learn from what they are doing.

"I think that's important for bankers today," he continues. "I believe it's important for prospects and customers to see not only their relationship managers but their senior management as well."

As expected, Abell has developed a finely tuned set of skills during his two decades in banking, working with different levels of people within the bank and with customers as well. "I think I have good people skills," he says. "To be effective in this job, you have to be a good listener and be able to communicate. You need to be passionate about what you do. Be fair to people on your team. And be a good motivator and team-builder."

Abell believes bankers need to be better listeners, a skill some may have let go in the past five years. "Customers should expect their banker to be a better business advisor, to be a good listener, so we know where our customers want to go. Focus on needs-based deliveries; don't just focus on products."

An RMA member for nearly 20 years, Abell has put his skills to good use in the organization, serving first as a board member and then as president of the Philadelphia Chapter for the past two years. "Being in RMA, I have found it helpful to know my peers in this business. And being an active chapter board member has taught me more about how to listen to people's ideas, take a risk on trying something new, and how to motivate-all skills I use every day on my job."

Volunteering is important to Abell. He encourages his employees to be active in the community and sets a good example by being active on several community boards. "Volunteering creates a lot of self satisfaction and helps you put things in perspective when you look at someone else's daily challenges."

[C] 2003 by RMA. McGinn is a Ft. Washington, Pennsylvania-based freelance writer and desktop publisher specializing in financial and business topics.