East River Bank

As an actuary, I know what «risk» is all about. I’ve worked as an actuary for most of my adult life. I didn’t plan on being in actuary growing up and, in college, I really liked the creative writing class I took a lot. But my parents convinced me to major in business classes at Ramapo College and I got into the industry. I mean, I love being an actuary — it’s a non-​stop challenging developing valuation models for parking garage companies. But maybe my life would have been a bit different if I did try and become a writer.
Anyways, I ended up opening an account at East River Bank after I moved into a nearby townhouse in Manayunk once my wife and I settled the divorce with my ex-​wife Cynthia, officially ending our 14-​year marriage. She lives in Glenside now with our twin sons Bradley and Bryan (B&B). They’re not too far away but it feels like it’s miles.
While our divorce was amicable (we’re both hurting but know that), the monetary division and the like was really hard to figure out. And while I do have math skills as an actuary, I really wanted to keep a distance from allocations and left that in the hand of our attorneys.
I learned this when I tried to make a $ 34 purchase of gasoline from a nearby BP to fill up by 2010 Kia Sorrento with my newly issued East River Bank-​issued Visa card and it got denied. The guy from the gas station part of the store (not the Dunkin’ Donuts) understood and everything but still took my keys before I could leave. I was fine with it and went right across Ridge to the East River Bank location there.
The staff was SO helpful. I mean, they were when I opened the account but they really went above and beyond. There was a delay in a funds transfer — it took 72 hours and not 48 — so I technically didn’t have any money on the account. They really took the time to explain this to me and tried to find an alternative solution, and even called Bank of America (me and Cynthia’s old bank) to try and see what was happening. But since Cynthia had moved to her credit union (Trumark), BOA couldn’t really help too much, and since her credit union account was new, they couldn’t help either since there was a transfer freeze for another two days.
But they tried their best, and I really appreciate it. That’s all you can really do. I wish I tried harder to separate my work and my personal life but now that’s the next stage of my life.
I ended up calling Cynthia, who came down to give me some money for the next two days. It was weird because she had a yoga mat in the car — I know that when you move on you try new things but yoga!!! The twins with with their aunt (and cousin Brandon, also born on the same day but two years earlier!) so I didn’t get a chance to see them.
I would recommend East River Bank to anyone who is having money transfer issues due to paperwork delays stemming from the end of your 14-​year-​marriage while you think about what it would have been like to have followed your creative writer professor’s advice and really went for it.

What an incredibly friendly staff! I honestly never thought I’d be saying this — BUT I love going to East River Bank. I am also beyond impressed with East River Bank’s ongoing commitment to the community it serves. I am unaware of another bank in the region who supports charity’s and non-​profits to the same extent as this organization! Kudos.

I went to the East Falls branch today to get some change. I do not have an account with East River Bank, but I figured why drive all the way to my bank just to get some change, when this one is right around the corner. After all, this is something I have been doing for years and no one at any bank I’ve been to has ever even bothered to ask me a single question. Apparently, at East River Bank things are different. You need to have an account here to get change, unless you are doing so on behalf of a business. They did give me the change in the end («We’ll do it for you this time.»), but not without a lecture. If it was this much of a hassle to get change for a twenty, I don’t even want to imagine what it is like having to deal with this company as an account holder.