Avner Mendelson, President & CEO, Israel Discount Bank New York, told attendees at the Jerusalem Post Miami Summit on Tuesday that understanding clients’ needs is what makes IDB New York unique. “The personal piece is not just a slogan,” he said. “It’s the DNA of the organization.”
In an on-stage interview, Mendelson said that the bank, which has a significant presence in New York, Florida, and California, extensive operations in Israel, and representatives in South America, combines Israeli resilience and entrepreneurship with process-oriented listening skills prevalent in the US.
Mendelson said that an integral part of the bank’s activity is serving as a conduit between the US and Israeli economies, by supporting both Israeli entrepreneurs starting businesses in the United States, as well as American investors who are investigating opportunities to invest and build companies in Israel.
IDB New York, he explained, serves many mid-sized businesses. “What’s unique about family-owned businesses and businesses led by entrepreneurs,” said Mendelson, “is that the identity of the entrepreneur or the family is very much tied to the business. Serving those types of clients requires us to understand the emotional piece of the business, being able to serve as an advisor, sometimes to be a sounding board, and help them think about risk management, because the identity and the survival of the business is so critical.”
Mendelson said that patience and flexibility are integral to Israel Discount Bank New York’s culture. “Entrepreneurs are hard-driving, very optimistic people who want to get things done in non-traditional ways. It’s important to be able to ask the right questions and think outside of the box, to be more flexible and find the right solutions to support them.”
Mendelson also commented on IDB New York’s quick response in support of the State of Israel after the Hamas attack on October 7. “The bank quickly became a command and control center,” he said. “Dozens of our employees connected, and we became the beating heart of the first response to the crisis, finding flights for returning reserve soldiers, connecting donors in the apparel industry who wanted to give donations to communities in Israel, helping organizations, and reaching out to their communities and donors. We take pride in the ability to go beyond the call and do things that you don’t find on a balance sheet of a bank.”
This article was written in cooperation with Discount Bank