NewDominion doubling business banking staff

Brimming with enthusiasm after its $10 million capital raise, Charlotte-based NewDominion Bank is looking to move more aggressively into business lending -- doubling its business banking team from six to 12 with a team leader, three business bankers and two business banking associates. It's also added a consumer loan administrator.

“We doubled our customer-facing team,” CEO John Hipp said in a statement. “After completing the capital raise in June, now is the time for us to shift to offense. Delivering high touch relationships and quick decisions is what differentiates us."

Back in May, Hipp told the Observer the goal is to become a $1 billion to $2 billion in assets bank, and ultimately to go public.

PNC EXPERIMENTING IN THE SOUTHEAST: The Pittsburgh bank says its performance in the Southeast is still very much a "bet on the table" a year after taking over for RBC Bank, CEO Bill Demchak told investors Monday. But he also said that the new markets provide a venue for experimentation with how to serve retail customers.

"We will never have the physical presence that we traditionally had in the Northeast at Midwest markets," he said, according to a transcript. "But we don't actually think that that would fit the banking model of the future."

Instead, what you'll get in markets like Charlotte are new models of banking like cash-free branches focused on sales.

****This is a preview of The Charlotte Observer's Bank Watch Morning Report, bringing you banking news from the region, the top financial headlines, and the news driving activity in the Charlotte market.****

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