Bank of Bird-in-Hand - Bernville

Bank of Bird-in-Hand serves Bernville through a mobile branch that parks at Reifsnyder's Ag Center, 7180 Bernville Road, rather than through a traditional storefront. The mobile unit, known locally as a Gelt Bus, is a fully staffed bank branch on wheels that keeps a weekly schedule in Bernville on Wednesdays from 9 am to 4 pm. Customers can open accounts, make deposits and withdrawals, discuss loans with bank staff and use the onboard ATM during those hours. For cash access at other times, the bank maintains a surcharge-accessible ATM inside Way-Har Farm Market at 7701 Bernville Road, available whenever the market is open.

The bank itself is a community-owned, full-service institution and a subsidiary of GELT Bancorp, Inc., with its main office in Bird-in-Hand, Lancaster County. It was the first bank in the United States to receive a new charter following the 2008 financial crisis, and it remains the only bank in Pennsylvania to open since that period. That origin shaped the institution's approach: it was organized specifically to lend to farmers, small business owners and households in rural areas and within the Plain Community, markets that larger regional institutions had largely stepped back from.

Branch Network and Service Area

Bank of Bird-in-Hand operates brick-and-mortar offices in Bird-in-Hand, Intercourse, Paradise, Ephrata, Manheim, Schaefferstown, Lykens Valley, Quarryville and Honey Brook, along with a Lending and Operations Center in Paradise. Its fleet of mobile branches travels the backroads of Lancaster, Lebanon, Dauphin, Chester, Berks, Schuylkill and Northumberland counties, making scheduled weekly stops at agricultural supply stores, markets and crossroads communities where a permanent branch would not be practical. Bernville is one of those stops, placing full banking services within reach of farms and small businesses in northwestern Berks County without a long drive to a county seat.

Personal Banking

The bank offers two main checking products for individuals. Consumer Checking carries no monthly service charge and no minimum balance requirement, while Interest Checking pays tiered interest on balances. Both include unlimited check writing, a Visa Debit Card and free paper statements, and customers age 50 and older receive basic checks at no charge.

Savings options are structured for different stages and balances:

• A standard savings account for everyday deposits
• Minor Savings for account holders under age 21, with fees waived until the eighteenth birthday
• New Savings and Consumer High Yield Savings for larger balances
• Money Market accounts with tiered interest

Each savings product pays tiered interest and allows six free debit transactions per month. Certificates of Deposit and IRA CDs are available in terms ranging from six to sixty months, with early withdrawal penalties applying to funds taken out before maturity. Staff on the mobile branch and at any office can walk through current terms and rates.

Business and Non-Profit Accounts

Business checking comes in three tiers. Small Business Checking is built for lower-volume operations and includes a monthly allowance of free transaction items with no monthly fee. Business Checking suits companies with heavier activity, and Business Interest Checking pays tiered interest on operating balances. All three include courier service, bank by mail and bank by phone, online banking with bill pay and a Visa Business Debit Card. The bank also offers Business Savings and Business Money Market accounts, the latter paying tiered interest with a monthly allowance of free debit transactions and courier service available.

Organizations holding active 501(c)3 status can open Non-Profit Checking with a low opening requirement, no monthly service charge and a generous monthly allowance of processed items. A Non-Profit Interest Checking option is available for organizations that carry reserves.

Agricultural and Commercial Lending

Agricultural credit is central to the bank's business. Lending products include farm ownership loans with amortization periods extending up to twenty-five years, equipment financing, farm improvement loans, operating lines, livestock loans and revolving lines of credit. On the commercial side, the bank writes term loans, investment property loans and construction financing, and it participates in financing programs through EDC Lancaster County.

A defining practice is that lenders travel. Rather than asking an applicant to assemble paperwork and come to an office, loan officers visit the farm, the shop or the job site to see the operation firsthand. For farms and family businesses with unconventional records or seasonal cash flow, that in-person underwriting often matters more than a credit score alone.

Mortgages and Consumer Loans

Residential lending includes Adjustable Rate Mortgages in three, five and seven year terms. The bank also runs a residential program designed for borrowers who have no established credit history or who have been self-employed for less than two years, a situation common among tradespeople, farmers and members of the Plain Community. Residential mortgage and home equity line of credit products are offered within Pennsylvania only. Loan signings can be arranged at a customer's home, which again reflects the bank's practice of meeting people where they live and work. Personal loans round out the consumer lending menu.

Cash Management and Digital Services

Business customers have access to a set of treasury tools through the Business Online Banking portal, including Check and ACH Positive Pay for fraud detection, Remote Deposit Capture for scanning checks from a desktop, ACH origination, discounted online wire transfers, Insured Cash Sweep for deposit coverage beyond the standard FDIC insurance limit, and merchant card processing.

Online and mobile banking is available to all customers, with bill pay, a mobile app for iOS and Android devices, and QuickBooks integration for businesses. Bank by Phone is reachable at 855-375-2265. Digital channels and the ATM network remain available around the clock, including on days when offices and mobile branches are closed for holidays.

Financial Education

Through a partnership with Banzai, the bank provides a free online financial literacy program used by parents, teachers and students. Course levels include Banzai Junior, Teen and Plus, along with budgeting coaches and calculators. The bank sponsors participating schools in its service area and provides the curriculum at no cost to teachers or families.

Practical Information

The Bernville stop is located at 7180 Bernville Road, Bernville, Pennsylvania, at Reifsnyder's Ag Center, with the mobile branch present on Wednesdays from 9 am to 4 pm. The ATM at Way-Har Farm Market, 7701 Bernville Road, is open during store hours. Bank of Bird-in-Hand is a Member FDIC institution and an Equal Housing Lender.