I love banks”, says Sushil K Tuli, President, Leader Bank, ”I have always worked with banks. From a young boy till now, I have always been fascinated with managing a bank”.

We are sitting in his 3000 sq. ft, newly renovated building of Leader Bank right across on Mass Avenue in Arlington. Leader Bank is Sushil Tuli ‘Can do it’ dream that took shape on May 8th and had its grand inauguration on May 28th. The busy and preoccupied street and sidewalk traffic is left behind as soon as you enter 141, Mass Avenue. The freshly painted and elegant office offers a warm, genial atmosphere with its friendly staff and Sushil Tuli himself, gracious and welcoming with a friendly smile.

The name ‘Leader’ would have rung a bell to all us by now. Leader Mortgage, Sushil Tuli’s first venture started way back in 1986 spurred on with growing interest in immigrants wanting to buy houses. He reminisces on the main objective behind the company. “The real satisfaction comes when people approach you without any knowledge of the mortgage process. I tell them, go find your house and when it comes to mortgage we will hold your hand and take care of things for you,” he says. ”I do not run my business for profitability. All of us need to make money but I guide people when they come to ask for a loan and give them the best options. I think, because of our personal service, they come back to us. Last year, Leader Mortgage made $440 million worth of business. We have more than 20,000 customers now. Most of this is through word of mouth and friendly personalised service".

“Now of course, the name Leader Bank will be associated with me” he says. "The comfort level is already established here, and I have a loyal clientele, so they will come back here. In less than 14 days we have more than 70 customers opening their account here”

Leader bank now less than a month old is a commercial bank. The bank is backed by $6.9 million in capital and has 85 shareholders and eight full-time employees. It offers customers free checking accounts, IRA accounts and CDA accounts, money market accounts and much more. One thing that is very attractive to clients is workplace banking. The philosophy behind this, Sushil Tuli says is, ”You don’t come to us, we will come to you. We have spoken to a lot of companies here. We send a person across and talk about your banking needs and what Leader Bank has to offer. The terms are attractive and our interest rates are comparable and it is also a great way to know your bank.”

What about the bank’s competitive advantage? “Our biggest advantage over our competitors is our personal service, we treat our customer like a king and you will always be talking to a human voice here”, he says disarmingly, seemingly referring to the automated voice mail that we are subjected to nowadays . “Another advantage of a community bank is, we have smaller overheads so we pass on the savings to our customers.”

Leader Bank’s target audience is individuals and small size business owners. “Two advantages”, says Tuli “are direct deposits and lock box services. Our goal is, as a small business let them do what they are good at, when it comes to banking we will take care of it”.

Outlining the trends and changes from then to now, Sushil Tuli admits that technology has made a tremendous impact and now one can be more detail oriented and focused. He is fascinated with technology himself and professes to be a technology buff." All along, when I was running Leader Mortgage I knew something was missing, and now I am finally satisfied. The difference between running a bank and a mortgage company is, with a mortgage you take a loan, close it and you are done with it. In banking it is an ongoing relationship with the customers and that is a major change".

While away from the bank, Sushil Tuli, a family man enjoys a basketball game or two with this three sons, Jay, Shawn and Neil. The family pop over to movies and to the Fleet center to watch the Celtics play sometimes. Rita, his wife works at the mortgage company and vacations every year for the family are a must.

In his soft spoken and earnest voice Sushil Tuli emphasizes his commitment to community service. He is the trustee for the Indian Forum of Political Education and has been a long time member of the United India Association. He has also been the Chairman of the Massachusetts Mortgage Bankers Association, the largest association of mortgage lenders in New England.

For the past ten years, Leader Mortgage brings in one or two high school students from Belmont as summer interns at his office. “I encourage all businesses to do that, says Tuli “You are giving the high school students an opportunity at a real life experience. Some of them have benefitted with their college admissions, along the way. I also encourage Indians to come and work for me. These are the ways you can give back to the community.

Lokvani would like to extend its best wishes to Sushil Tuli and wish him all success in his new venture
To find out more about Leader Bank, visit www.leaderbank.com

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