When Jim Schwab, the former Cincinnati market chief for U.S. Bank, announced his retirement in November 2010, the banking powerhouse looked for an individual with market knowledge, financial experience, drive and compassion to replace him. Mike Prescott exemplified the characteristics the company was looking for.
Prescott, who earned his accounting degree at Ohio Northern University, didn’t find his passion for banking until his second year at the Ohio State University’s MBA program. “I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I was in my second year of grad school when I started interviewing with consumer durable companies and banks. After my first interview with a bank, I thought this is perfect for me, I have a love of finance, accounting, math, I love sales and interacting with people, so it seemed like the perfect job,” Prescott says. “I said, ‘The first bank that makes me an offer, I’m going to take it,’ and I did. I end- ed up getting six job offers.” In 1987 he went to work at National Bank in Detroit.
Prior to working at U.S. Bank, Prescott served as executive director of the Ohio Tuition Trust Authority, where he was responsible for all aspects of the state’s 529 plan. He was also the local market president at Huntington Bank.
As Prescott sits in his office reflecting on the four years he has spent at U.S. Bank, he is enamored by the small impact he has had on the company’s history.
“We’ve been here for 151 years in July and we started in this market,” he says. “When we started, we were initially capitalized with $1 million which was a staggering sum 150 years ago. We’ve always been a well-capitalized bank. In the panic of 1933 there was a run on banks in Cincinnati and you were limited to get out five percent of your deposit balance. We told people they could take out 100 percent. We literally had lines around the corner. People came with paper bags to take all of their money out and they brought it back a few days later because we were so safe and sound. Fast forward to the most recent financial crisis, we’ve never lost money. We may be one of the only banks of any size in the country who can say that we’ve never lost money in any given quarter.”
U.S. Bank is currently the fifth-largest commercial bank in the country. It also leaped past Fifth Third Bank in 2014 to become the local market share leader in Cincinnati. Its 2014 deposits rose 26 percent from the previous year to $31.2 billion according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data, giving it 39 percent of the local bank deposit market.
As one of the nation’s strongest and most stable banks – and one of the most trusted in Greater Cincinnati – U.S. Bank is focused on helping their customers succeed.
“When I talk to various U.S. Bank employees, I’ll draw a circle and ask them what belongs in the middle of the circle. It’s one word and they better get it right – customer,” says Prescott. “It’s all about the customer, and if you make that your focus you’ll do really well as a banker.
“I think what separates U.S. Bank is what we can bring to the table. There are 3,200 people in this market and 120 branches. So we are super convenient and we have a customer-centric focus so we are really all about service.”
With 17.6 million customers in 25 states, it is safe to say that U.S. Bank isn’t going anywhere. If anything, the company will only continue to strengthen and grow.
Prescott lives in Mason with his wife, Lauri, and two teenage children. He is currently on the boards of 3CDC, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens, Cincinnati Business Committee, United Way, ArtsWave, Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, University of Cincinnati Foundation, and the Medical Center Fund of Cincinnati. He is also on the board of managers for the Cincinnati New Markets Fund.
For more information on U.S. Bank, you can visit their website at www.usbank.com.