Antonio Uribe, President & CEO, Terrabank
Antonio Uribe, president and CEO of Terrabank, spoke with Invest: about its most profitable year since 2004 and its growing international presence. He also discussed the importance of adopting new technologies to continue Terrabank’s growth in a rapidly evolving industry.
What have been the key achievements for Terrabank in the past year?
This year, we reached $800 million in assets for the first time and had the most profitable year that we’ve had since 2004. We had a lot of digital transformation with customer-facing services, like giving our residential loan clients the ability to pay their bills online. We are working with fintechs to allow our account opening process to go directly to our core system. Many of our clients are international, and the account opening process can be onerous for them. We have built an efficient gateway through which they can submit their documents online and are sent directly to our core system. We are using AI in our BSA/AML compliance function and in our marketing efforts. But the biggest success was getting over $800 million in assets. Our goal is to reach $1 billion in assets. We’re also proud to announce we are celebrating our 40th anniversary in 2025.
How has your international presence evolved, and how have you adapted to the needs of international clients amid global economic fluctuations?
One of our biggest contributions to the international client area is our residential lending program. We’re one of four banks in Miami that has residential lending for foreigners as one of our target markets. That portfolio has grown by 15-20% over the last year. We’ve grown our customer base substantially. We’re now over $700 million in deposits. A lot of that has come from the international client arena.
How have you been able to bridge the geographical divide between you and your international clients and still deliver services with a personal touch?
Digital communication has been key in developing our customer base. We meet and interview clients online, and electronically open their accounts. We visit the countries where our clients are from and meet them face to face to get to know them better. As every community bank does, we ensure our service is personalized. At our bank, clients always speak to an individual, not a computer. That makes a big difference, especially with our international clients.
How does Terrabank support and invest in the local community?
We lend to construction, commercial real estate, residential, and retail vendors. We are involved with the Chapman Partnership and the Miami Bayside Foundation. We raise money for St. Jude and participate in Habitat For Humanity. Also, one of our senior team members is part of an advisory board for Miami-Dade College, which is putting together a curriculum for an associate degree in banking. This course offering will be a great contribution to the community.
What key opportunities and challenges do you anticipate for the banking industry in Florida in the near term?
The most important challenge for the industry is regulation. We are one of the most heavily regulated industries, which makes it difficult for us to develop new products and provide better client services. Everything involves a long process of evaluation, generation, and approval. That process makes it difficult to compete against bigger banks with more resources, including fintechs that can develop products at speed much faster than normal banks. It’s a slow and expensive issue.
In terms of opportunities, digital transformation is key for us, and we’re focused on developing products that will get us to the client faster, serve the client faster, and get the products that we’re offering to them faster. Using AI to enhance our processes, be they internal or client facing, in a much more efficient manner is a big opportunity. There are two examples in our bank, having to do with compliance and marketing using AI, and we expect to find uses beyond those.
Residential lending to foreigners is another big opportunity for us. Miami is called the Capital of Latin America, and we see many people and investors coming here. It’s been a growing business for us, and one we expect will continue to grow over the coming years.
Looking ahead, what are the top priorities for Terrabank over the next two to three years, and how do you plan to achieve these goals?
The most important priority is digital transformation and our ability to speed up processes, both internally and customer facing. Internally, we use Hubspot, which allows us to process customer inquiries and requests in an integrated fashion. If we receive a phone call with a client request, they input it into the program and someone in the bank sees it immediately and can provide all the information needed efficiently. On the customer-facing side, there’s a big opportunity in cross-border transactions. There’s a huge change going on in the market in terms of speed of transactions. International transfers can be made in the space of a second. We are working with VisaDirect to develop a rail for our clients, which will allow transactions that take seconds to process. The benefit to our clients is that the cost of transfers is going to lower substantially. At Terrabank, we see it as an opportunity and a challenge. We want to continue maintaining and growing our international client base. We might make less money from those transactions, so we need to generate more volume. Terrabank processes many remittances to the Dominican Republic and Central America. Those will become more competitive arenas as the speed of these transfers accelerates.
What are some larger trends Terrabank is keeping an eye on moving forward?
People want community banks, but the younger you are, the more you want a technology-oriented bank. That trend favors larger banks and fintechs that have the resources to develop the necessary products. As people grow older, they find the need for a more personalized service. If they’re opening a business or buying a house, it’s easier for them to speak to someone in person.
