Print Issue: 2021 - April Edition

Banks switch gears for virtual financial literacy initiatives

With the ongoing pandemic, banks’ financial literacy initiatives have switched gears — visiting schools and giving tours of banks are no longer possible as many schools have gone virtual and banks have shut their doors to large groups. Despite the setbacks, banks are finding new avenues to teach financial literacy — a skill that is crucial at a time when the Federal Reserve reports 70 percent of adults would not be able to pay an unexpected $400 expense. [Continue]

Minnesota banker works to increase board diversity

Across the banking industry, women make up a significant percentage of employees, but their numbers traditionally slim when you get to the board level. Since Kelly Skalicky took the helm at Stearns Bank, St. Cloud, Minn., this has changed. The Stearns Bank N.A., board is 57 percent female (four women; three men) and its five-person holding company board is 80 percent female.  [Continue]

Second-gen banker brings diverse legal background to banking

When Kelly Skalicky was in elementary school, she wanted to play basketball. But the town’s youth league was only open to boys. The restriction didn’t make sense to her. Why, she wondered, could the boys and girls play kickball together and have gym class together but only the boys had access to the league and the tournaments and the “cool” trophies? There was an inherent unfairness about the whole situation, which didn’t sit well with the scrappy fourth grader.  [Continue]

How to field a marketing team in 2021 and beyond

Your customers are comparing your mobile banking app experience to shopping on Amazon. Your CEO wants a digital transformation plan up and rolling. Now. And your lenders want Wave 3 PPP communication support, a spring mortgage campaign, and a treasury management video by noon tomorrow. While just about every facet of banking has been disrupted in the last five years, the resources needed to support these changes are in serious need of inspection. [Continue]

Movable micro-branch offers location flexibility

Though the term “mobile branch” likely calls to mind a bank’s smartphone app, Minneapolis-based Vanman Architects puts a new spin on the term with its movable “micro-branch.” The micro-branch is a “somewhat mobile” banking unit designed for high-traffic sites, such as the parking lot of a grocery or big-box store. [Continue]

Space Considerations: Sean Raboin

Even before the pandemic, bank customers had increasingly migrated toward online and mobile banking products to conduct simple banking functions. The widespread temporary closure of bank lobbies in 2020, which linger in some areas today, has called into question the relevance of the brick-and-mortar branch, especially after banks successfully migrated much of their workforce to remote home offices. As the industry ponders its “new normal,” BankBeat reached out to bank architects around the Midwest to get their input. Here, Sean Raboin, partner at HTG Architects in Eden Prairie, Minn., gives his thoughts on how the last year might influence a bank’s use of space. [Continue]

Dual drive-thru lanes keep traffic flowing for Minnesota bank

Call 2020 the year of the drive-up. Ken Organ, vice president and manager of the Northfield, Minn., branch of Heritage Bank would certainly concur. Organ is a long-time resident of the vibrant college town, situated 45 miles straight south of Minneapolis, where the bank opened a de novo branch 16 months ago.  [Continue]

Space Considerations: Adam Holmes

Even before the pandemic, bank customers had increasingly migrated toward online and mobile banking products to conduct simple banking functions. The widespread temporary closure of bank lobbies in 2020, which linger in some areas today, has called into question the relevance of the brick-and-mortar branch, especially after banks successfully migrated much of their workforce to remote home offices. As the industry ponders its “new normal,” BankBeat reached out to bank architects around the Midwest to get their input. Here, Adam Holmes, CEO of Vanman Architects in Minneapolis, gives his thoughts on how the last year might influence a bank’s use of space. [Continue]

Not quite a fare-thee-well for bricks and mortar

There’s no question the pandemic has changed how people interact with their bank. Consider the insights from a study conducted last summer by Texas-based fintech Self Financial, which found a third of respondents opened an online-only bank account in the past 12 months. More than half believe online banks will eventually outnumber traditional banks, and 46 percent believe the way people currently bank needs to change. [Continue]

Decentralization is new but emerging way to think about finance

Decentralized financing (DeFi) is now part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Jason Wu, CEO of Minneapolis-based DeFiner, a crypto bank fintech that facilitates savings and loans using cryptocurrency, weighs in on whether its service is a tool for traditional banks — or their new competition. [Continue]