Dr. Neel: the successful architect of Quantum National Bank

director of a bank holding company in Neillsville, Wisconsin, where he was a practicing cardiologist. The local banker invited him to be on the board of bank holding company. We can now say, with the benefit of hindsight, that this was an act of providence.
After spending three years there Dr. Neel moved to Atlanta. The absence of an Indian -owned bank in Atlanta at that time caught Dr. Neel’s imagination and he constituted a board with 64 shareholders to start the bank with $ 5.5 million capital. The bank has since registered phenomenal growth and today boasts of $38 million capital and $360 million in its assets.

Elaborating on the strength of the bank, the chairman said: “There are two key factors in assessing a bank’s strength. First_ what your capital is? Minimum should be 5 percent. Our bank’s capital is 13 percent now. So capital-wise the bank is extremely sound. Second is the Taxes ratio. How many bad loans you have compared to your equity? The Federal government uses 100 as benchmark. If you are above 100 then you are supposed to be in trouble and they start watching you closely. It is a sign that the risk of your failure is very high. Our taxes ratio is 31. So in my view the bank is strong on both these counts.”

Dr. Neel agreed that the bank is fortunate as it has an extremely powerful board comprising of outstanding people in the field. All the board members are local citizens. Senior management people are, without exception, highly experienced and competent persons. The bank has established its solvency by advancing many loans.

Dr. Neel spoke on the constructive role the bank has been playing and said “When a customer approaches us, we help him with sound advice and information. It is very gratifying to see that in the past 12 years, many of our customers have become millionaires by setting up and expanding their businesses with the help of the loans from our bank. We are like a silent partner to them. Typically we finance 80 percent of the loan request. Some of them expand from one business into other businesses. Similarly our bank has also prospered and grown since its inception. We also believe in community involvement through outreach programs. So we help the community, in turn, it helps us also.”

Commenting on the safety of investor’s funds, Dr.Neel asserted that the funds were insured up to $250,000 — if it was a CD or any interest-bearing account. And for a non-interest bearing account, the insurance was without any limit. Even if someone had multimillion dollars in a checking account, it would be fully insured. Quantum National bank is a very safe bank.”

Speaking specifically about the effect of present economic downturn on the banking operations, Dr. Neel said: “Definitely the whole banking industry is affected and I have never seen such financial crisis in the past 35 years that I have been here. This is a perfect storm. Residential builders who build homes normally sell within six months. Now they are not able to sell even after two years. So these are difficult times for the borrowers to meet their obligations. That’s where we face some of the problems. But most of our customers are still paying. We are working with them and trying to help them out. We have very few bad loans compared to other banks.”

As regards customer base, Dr. Neel opined that almost every customer is a small business man. The bank helps even very small consumer businesses. “Most of our focus is on small businesses where the revenues are somewhere between a million dollars to 10 million dollars. We help a typical small business owner, with the purchase of real estate or purchase of a business or with running their day-to-day operations. Ninety-nine percent of our business is commercial. Of that, approximately one-third of business is with the Indian community and rest comprises the Atlanta community. We serve entire Atlanta. We have some customers whose main business is in Atlanta, with branches in South, or North Carolina, Florida, Alabama, etc. We help them with loans. The bank has a staff of 65 at the bank and eight at the mortgage company. We have a subsidiary mortgage company where we originate loans for housing. Though we still have a big focus on the Indian community, we also serve Korean, Chinese, and Vietnamese and Hispanic communities. It is encouraging to see the growth of our business from the Hispanic community. We have Hispanic speaking loan officers and customer representatives to serve the needs of that community.”

He exhorted the Indian community to look at the strength of the bank — its capital ratios and how impregnable it has been. “Do see how the bank is run. All of the deposits are insured. When you come to our bank and talk with one of our staff, you will feel confident that we are a reliable, solid, community-focused and customer-focused kind of institution,” he added.

About the criteria for sanctioning SBA loans, the chairman explained: “We have always been a preferred SBA lender. Ever since we have started the bank, we have been always among the top 15 to 20 in SBA lending list and we have dedicated SBA experts in the bank, who are very well experienced in making SBA loans. We are giving lots of SBA loans.”

Extolling the Indian community in America, he said: “It is a very strong, vibrant and net-worthy community. The community is respected, and admired for its immense contribution in the economic, social, educational and cultural uplift of Georgia. We have to capitalize by getting more involved into the mainstream community activity to enhance our image to our mutual benefit. We should always remember to give back to the entire community.”

Dr. Neel is a board certified cardiologist and has a thriving practice in Gainesville, Commerce, Georgia. When asked how he is able to successfully manage running his medical practice as well as overseeing banking operations, he said: “It is fun to do both. Because I have such a good staff it makes my work at bank a lot easier. I do what a normal chairman does. I give them a vision, direction and take care of all issues at the board level.”

Dr. Neel was the past president of the Georgia Association of Physicians of Indian Origin and has been actively involved with the Association since 1989. He is also a trustee of the Hindu temple of Atlanta at Riverdale as well as at the temple in Suwannee. He is known for his philanthropy and plays an active role in cultural events in Georgia. He is on the Board of Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce. He is also in charge of educational wing of the Community Bank Association of Georgia. He helps with granting of scholarships in Jackson County where he resides. He also provides educational support to the students pursuing courses in medical fields throughout their college years. He renders financial support to help nurses at the hospital to complete their education. He teaches medical staff, nurses and other healthcare givers at the hospital. He is an ardent supporter of local library where he lives and has pledged a large amount of money for building a children’s library in the community.

Dr. Neel is married to Sumitra who also belongs to the medical field. They are blessed with a son, who is a cardiologist with a specialization in electro physiology, and a daughter who has just finished her residency in preventive medicine and obtained board certification