The Bancorp's Chief Reassigned to Fintech Role

The Bancorp in Wilmington, Del., is looking for a new chief executive.

The $4.7 billion-asset company said in a press release Monday that Frank Mastrangelo resigned as CEO to become its technologist in residence. Mastrangelo, who had been in his leadership post since late last year, also relinquished his seat on The Bancorp's board.

The Bancorp said John Chrystal, one of its directors, had succeeded Mastrangelo on an interim basis as it looks for a permanent replacement. Chrystal, who has held management posts at other financial services firms, has chaired the company's risk and Bank Secrecy Act committees.

Chrystal "is coming into the CEO role with great knowledge of the company and our strategy going forward," Daniel Cohen, the company's chairman, said in the release. "We are extremely appreciative of everything [Chrystal] has done on the board and for stepping in while the company institutes a search for our next CEO."

Mastrangelo will focus on areas such as the company's payments business, fintech and other technology initiatives.

The Bancorp has weathered some rough periods in the last few years.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. hit the company with an enforcement action last year that curbed the growth of its prepaid business. The order also required management to beef up the company's money-laundering controls.

A flurry of unwelcome — and seemingly unrelated — news followed. The FDIC assessed the company a surcharge tied to the agency's treatment of prepaid cards. The Bancorp then discovered several million dollars in unreported loan losses after it shut down its commercial bank.

Mastrangelo succeeded long-time leader Betsy Cohen when she retired last December. In recent months, the company has hired a chief operating officer and a chief risk officer.

The company in September put an end to recent accounting woes by filing a batch of long-overdue financial reports. The filings had been delayed by a credit review, stemming from the discovery earlier this year of $28 million in unreported loan losses.