A bank in Winter Park, Florida, is set to become the first new de novo in the central part of the Sunshine State in nearly a decade, having received conditional approvals from both federal and state regulators.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Florida Office of Financial Regulation has handed Portrait Bank conditional approvals, the bank announced Wednesday.
Portrait submitted its applications in September, having raised some $25 million by that time. Now, it has raised $42 million from 248 local investors and aims to begin serving commercial businesses, consumers and private-wealth clients later this year.
“Portrait Bank’s vision has always been clear – help local entrepreneurs and businesses frame their financial futures,” founder and CEO Erik Weiner said in a prepared statement.
“Our goal is to create a long-lasting, trusted partnership with our clients, offering them the resources they need to succeed,” Weiner said. “Reaching this step of regulatory compliance is a pivotal milestone that brings us closer to working with underserved businesses and members of the Central Florida community.”
Before joining the Portrait effort, Weiner spent nearly two decades in executive roles at Fifth Third Bank, BankUnited and City National Bank, according to his LinkedIn page. Most recently, he spent five years as City National’s Central Florida market president.
The last de novo in the Orlando area opened in 2017, Weiner told Banking Dive in September. In the last couple of years, two de novos have been established elsewhere in the state: Gala Bank in Ocala in late 2024 and BankMiami in Miami in early 2025.
Portrait’s conditional approval comes amid a greater conversation on de novo openings, spurred by federal regulators.
Last year, the FDIC’s then-Acting Chair Travis Hill said new bank formation had “fallen off a cliff” and that, moving forward, the agency would encourage new bank formation, potentially by changing capital expectations and reevaluating the application process for new innovators. In 2024, then-Federal Reserve Gov. Michelle Bowman sounded the alarm on de novo formations, as well.
“In my view, the absence of de novo bank formation over the long run will create a void in the banking system, a void that could contribute to a decline in the availability of reliable and fairly priced credit, the absence of financial services in underserved markets, and the continued shift of banking activities outside the banking system,” she said at the time.
De novo openings have been rare in recent years, according to S&P Global, which found just six banks established in 2024 and eight in 2023.
Portrait aims to fill the gap left by dwindling bank numbers: About seven banks are headquartered in central Florida, Weiner told Banking Dive in September. In 2000, 38 banks were headquartered in Orlando.
“There’s been a significant fallout of customer options and diversity of banking options,” Weiner said.
Portrait “combines local decision-making and personalized service with cutting-edge technology like agentic AI,” the bank said in its Wednesday announcement, but its use of artificial intelligence is “designed to enhance human expertise” rather than eliminate human roles.
It’s a distinction worth making: Several banks and fintechs have laid off staff or said they expect to do so this year amid an industry-wide AI push.
