Founded in 1827, we've been in business longer than any other bank in Maine. We have branches located in Saco, Biddeford, Old Orchard Beach, Portland, Scarborough, South Portland and Westbrook. As a leader in community banking, we have contributed more than $3.9 million to area organizations over the last 10 years and continue to support the needs of the communities we serve.
Our Mission is to:
There’s a difference between living in a place and being a part of it.
Simply going about your days or having an impact on others’.
It’s about caring.
It’s about belonging.
It’s about feeling home … at home.
As a mutual savings bank, we take that word “mutual” seriously.
Working to our customers’ mutual advantage on things that are mutually beneficial.
Not just for our own good, but for the good of the community.
The people we serve helping us serve those around us.
Giving us a chance to give more.
Because when each of your customers is part-owner, too, everyone’s in it together.
That’s why our focus is on our people.
Our friends and family right here in our neighborhoods.
The dreams we dream. The hopes we hope.
The values and beliefs we all share.
It’s the people that are the heart of every community.
We see how much you love it here. And we do too.
As the oldest bank in Maine, we’ve been here for 190 years.
And we’ll be in it together for 190 more.
In February of 2019, we wrote: “In It Together is much more than a branding catch phrase to us. It is our commitment to work with each other and our customers consistently, in both robust and challenging economic times.” We had begun using that phrase because it truly reflects how we, as a mutually organized community bank, conduct our business. 2020 brought that phrase to the forefront across the world, as people were driven to band together to battle Covid-19, a global health crisis that dominated our lives for most of the year.
In order to ensure that we could continue to provide essential services to our customers, the safety and well-being of our employees took on an increased focus. Many hours and resources were expended to provide our employees with the proper safety protocols along with the tools necessary to work remotely where practical. It was also imperative to us that our philanthropy efforts continued unabated. As much as ever, community organizations needed our help and we responded with our third consecutive year of donations totaling in excess of $500,000.
While the year presented many economic challenges, we generated a solid level of earnings; lower than that of the last several years but still sufficient to maintain our capital ratio above 11%. We readily waived or reduced a substantial amount of fees in order to provide some relief for our customers. Despite the recession, we experienced exceptionally strong growth in customer deposit accounts, with an increase of more than $110 million. This positions us quite well for the years to come. Paquin & Carroll Insurance¹ continued to provide a substantial boost to the bottom line, while S&B Financial Services2 enjoyed the strongest results in its 11 year history. Loan growth of nearly $37 million doesn’t begin to tell the story of the volume of lending activity. The extremely low interest rate environment induced many borrowers to refinance their debt, and our staff worked tirelessly to help customers take advantage of that opportunity. Additionally, considerable effort went into loan modifications that provided temporary payment relief to customers as well as the origination of 445 loans under the Payroll Protection Program.
We would be remiss if we didn’t give recognition to our employees, whose resolve and determination has allowed us to serve you throughout the year. With support from our board of directors, our team showed ingenuity in finding new ways to take care of our customers’ needs. In turn, those customers were patient and loyal as we worked together to solve problems. These are all vital elements as we continuously add strength and stability.
2020 was unique in the nature of the hard times that we all faced together, but it’s not the first time in SBSI’s 194 years that we met challenges head on, and you can be sure that it will not be the last. With all of the uncertainty that is in the world these days, you can be confident that we will continue to be here, doing what we do, the way we do it. We are honored to provide that constancy and commitment in the lives of our customers, co-workers, and communities.
¹Insurance products and services offered by Paquin & Carroll Insurance are:
2Advisory services may only be offered by investment adviser representatives.
Securities and insurance products are offered through Cetera Investment Services LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services are offered through Cetera Investment Advisers LLC. Neither firm is affiliated with Saco & Biddeford Savings Institution where investment services are offered. Investments are:
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Financial Professionals are registered to conduct securities business and licensed to conduct insurance business in limited states. Response to, or contact with residents of other states will only be made upon compliance with applicable licensing and registration requirements. The information in this website is for U.S. residents only and does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to purchase brokerage services to persons outside of the United States.
Cetera Investment Services LLC registered branch office: 252 Main Street, Saco, ME 04072
