Founded in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1889 as Ohio Savings Bank, AmTrust Bank has grown from a local savings and loan to having a national presence in retail banking, mortgage and construction lending, investment and insurance services and indirect auto lending.
On December 4, 2009, the U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision closed down the bank, and all deposit accounts were transferred to New York Community Bank.[1] In April 2010, the bank began operating as Ohio Savings Bank, a division of New York Community Bank.[2]
Ohio Savings Bank ended its first year with one branch office and $20,000 in assets. Since then, it grew to over $17 billion in assets, and at one time was one of the 20 largest mortgage lenders in the United States.
In 1989, Ohio Savings Bank purchased Palm Plaza Savings Bank in Boca Raton, Florida. This purchase resulted in the establishment of the AmTrust Bank division. Today, in addition to the AmTrust branches in the Cleveland, Akron and Columbus, Ohio, markets, there are branches located throughout southeastern Florida. Expansion into yet another market continued in 2000, when the first AmTrust Bank branch in the Phoenix, Arizona, area opened.
In April 2007, Ohio Savings Bank was renamed as AmTrust Bank, to represent its national presence.[3]
On December 4, 2009, the FDIC closed Amtrust Bank. Its assets were transferred to New York Community Bank of Westbury, NY. NYCB has announced that they intend to restore the Ohio Savings bank name for the former Amtrust Bank's Ohio operations.
AmTrust Bank has no affiliation with AmTrust North America a P&C insurance carrier, also based primarily in Cleveland, Ohio.