Centinel Bank of Taos

Some local businesses become part of the infrastructure of a place. Their story is not simply about what they sell or the services they provide. It becomes part of the story of how a community developed.

Centinel Bank of Taos is one of those institutions.

The $50 that started it

The story begins with Taos County native Eliu E. Romero. After serving in the Navy and Merchant Marines, putting himself through law school and returning home to practice law, Romero needed furniture for his new office.

According to Centinel Bank's history, he approached a bank for a $50 loan. He was turned down.

Centinel places that experience within a period when unequal access to financial services was a reality for many Hispanic residents and other members of the community. Romero decided that Taos needed a financial institution intended to serve the entire community.

A $50 rejection eventually became a bank.

Building a bank in Taos

Establishing that bank did not happen quickly. Romero applied for a state bank charter and faced repeated denials. He continued pursuing the application, eventually taking the effort to Washington, D.C.

After the charter was ultimately approved, Eliu and Elizabeth Romero turned to their own community to help capitalize the institution.

Approximately 300 Taos County residents participated. On March 1, 1969, Centinel Bank of Taos opened its doors.

Still rooted in Taos

More than five decades later, Centinel remains headquartered in Taos and continues to describe its mission around local knowledge, local decision-making and service to Taos County.

The bank's history also became a family story. Eliu and Elizabeth Romero's son Martin joined Centinel in 1978 and later became president and CEO.

Their granddaughter, Rebeca Romero Rainey, eventually led the institution before going on to become president and CEO of the Independent Community Bankers of America.

Current leadership continues that local connection. Angel Reyes joined Centinel in 1996, beginning as a teller and later working in lending, investments and financial management before moving into senior leadership.

Centinel is identified in federal banking records as a Hispanic-American Minority Depository Institution, connecting its founding history with a federally recognized role in minority-owned banking.

Putting resources back into the community

Centinel's community role extends beyond ordinary banking services. Its published programs include scholarships, educational support, arts initiatives, nonprofit giving and employee volunteerism.

The bank says it commits more than 400 hours of paid employee time each year to community volunteer efforts throughout Taos County.

Federal regulators have also examined the bank's community-development activity. In its January 2023 Community Reinvestment Act evaluation, the FDIC rated Centinel's overall CRA performance Outstanding and its Community Development Test Outstanding.

The evaluation documented community-development lending, qualified investments and services directed toward economic and community needs within the bank's assessment area.

Centinel today

Centinel today provides personal and business banking, real-estate and mortgage lending, commercial lending and digital banking services from its Taos operation.

Those services belong on the bank's full HeyTaos Partner profile. The reason Centinel appears in Taos Spotlight is the larger story: a local institution created in response to a barrier to access that has remained connected to the community where it began.