First Commerce Bank

We are a community-based, full-service commercial bank that emphasizes the banking needs of small to medium-sized businesses, professional entities, governmental agencies and individuals.  We opened in January 2006 under the name Northern State Bank.  We offer a broad range of consumer and commercial banking services to our customers.  We offer high-quality service by providing more direct, personal attention than we believe is offered by competing financial institutions, most of which are branch offices of banks headquartered outside our primary trade area.  We believe that this combination of quick, responsive and personal service, combined with state-of-the-art banking technology, provides our customers with a superior banking experience.  We urge potential investors to read our 2015 Annual Report, and subsequent Shareholder Letters, for a review of our operations, by selecting the investor relations tab on this website.

On July 22, 2010, we entered into a Recapitalization Agreement with Messrs. Abraham Opatut and C. Herbert Schneider, as lead investors of an investor group (the “Investor Group”), under which Messrs. Abraham Opatut and Schneider agreed to assist us in recapitalizing the Bank (the “Recapitalization”). The Recapitalization was consummated on December 14, 2010, and we raised approximately $18.3 million in additional capital.  As part of the Recapitalization, we also relocated our headquarters to 105 River Avenue in Lakewood, while maintaining our original branch in Closter, New Jersey.  We now serve Ocean/Monmouth Counties in New Jersey, as well as our original target market of Bergen County, New Jersey.  We also restructured our Board of Directors, adding 11 new Board Members, while maintaining four members of the Bank’s original Board.  Finally, Mr. Abraham Opatut became Chairman of our Board, and Mr. C. Herbert Schneider became our President and CEO as part of the Recapitalization.

With the Recapitalization in December 2010, Northern State Bank finished the year 2010 with $77.6 Million in total assets and $21.6 Million in total capital.  Subsequently, the Bank formally changed its name to First Commerce Bank in June, 2011, with additional capital of $7.2 million being raised in January, 2012 and $11.0 million in August, 2013.  As of December 31, 2015, total assets were $669.2 million and total capital was $57.4 million.

First Commerce Bank Locations

Toll Free Numbers

Officers of First Commerce Bank