California Apparel News

For regional Southern California financial institution OneWest Bank, small business has inspired great investment. The retail-bank division of Pasadena, Calif.’s CIT Bank, N.A., announced last week that it had launched a small-business mobile application. OneWest Bank’s head of retail banking, Heather Ellison, explained that the company’s inspiration to create the new offering was to aid small-business owners in managing their finances as they seek to efficiently use their time to grow their organizations.

“Small-business owners are often on the go and are increasingly reliant on digital banking tools to keep up with their busy schedules,” she said. “Our new app is an accessible and convenient solution for local entrepreneurs looking to manage their money digitally from anywhere at any time.”

Through the new application, owners of small businesses will be able to not only conduct everyday transactions such as deposits, transfers and appointment scheduling but also have access to the funding application process. It is Ellison’s hope that the new mobile offering will facilitate the development of her clients’ ventures.

“With this seamless banking experience, we’re reinforcing our commitment to helping businesses thrive across the communities where we live and work,” she said.

This addition to the OneWest Bank menu of small-business tools comes at a time of growth for the financial institution, which services Southern California customers from the San Diego to Ventura counties. In October, the bank opened a West Los Angeles location. It is also investing in its small-business customers through parent company CIT Group Inc.’s Launch + Grow program, which debuted last May during National Small Business Week and was built upon a partnership with the nonprofit community-outreach organization Operation Hope. Through the program, the financial institution and the Atlanta-based nonprofit aim to empower female entrepreneurs through financial literacy and business education.

In August, New York–headquartered CIT Group Inc. announced that it was interested in the acquisition of Omaha, Neb.–based Mutual of Omaha Bank to be a subsidiary of CIT Bank, N.A. At the time, CIT Group Inc. was interested in acquiring the wholly owned subsidiary of Mutual of Omaha for $1 billion. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency approved the transaction in November. The deal became finalized Jan. 1 with the $1-billion purchase price comprising $850 million in cash and 3.1 million shares of CIT stock, which were issued to the Mutual of Omaha Insurance Co.