For more than a century, downtown customers of First Tennessee Bank and its predecessor, Hamilton National Bank, cashed checks, made bank deposits and transacted other financial dealings in the sprawling lobby of the bank’s tower, which spanned from Market to Broad Street on the south side of Seventh Street.
But like most banks, First Tennessee is pruning the size of its downtown retail branch to better suit the market as more consumers switch to electronic and mobile bank options that limit the need to visit the local bank branch.
The bank has closed five of its former bank branches in Chattanooga over the past decade, and last year First Tennessee even sold its 16-story bank tower in Chattanooga – and similar buildings across Tennessee – to make way for more downtown apartments planned by a Memphis developer.
But First Tennessee is hardly shrinking its footprint in Chattanooga. The bank, which will retain the bottom four floors of its signature office building, remains the biggest in metro Chattanooga, growing its local deposits by 13 percent in the past year to a record high, while raising local profits by 23 percent last year.
“We’ve put more focus on growing deposits, which will become more valuable as interest rates rise, and we’ve worked hard to add around 70 new business clients in the past year,” says Jeff Jackson, the market president in Chattanooga for First Tennessee over the past year. “And every one of decisions is made locally. We believe that is a real competitive advantage for us.”