They say the only constant is change, and 2020 represented a sea change. The way we live, work, and yes, pay, has all been upended in many ways. And small businesses have borne the brunt of the upheaval. The numbers tell the depth of the struggle with reports indicating that 60 percent of small businesses forced to shut their doors due to the pandemic will never reopen. [Continue]
Managing and curating your bank’s brand has always required discipline, vision and creativity. Today, industry disruption and COVID-19 have added a new mandatory: Relevance. [Continue]
As 2020 neared its conclusion, Fidelity Bank, was on track to rack up more business than during any other year in its 50-year history. When year-end numbers are posted, it is likely the bank will have doubled in asset size from 2019, and quadrupled its warehouse mortgage lending volume. [Continue]
The arrival of COVID-19 brought with it not only a public health crisis, but an economic crisis. The virus has altered the way we work, shop and interact with friends and family. As a result, economic activity slowed and the outlook dimmed. Businesses, expecting sharp declines in profitability, increased their credit usage, and consumers reduced their spending and increased their savings. [Continue]
Banks can plan to mitigate margin compression by aggressively lowering cost of funds, look for growth opportunities in what is expected to be an accelerating M&A environment, and consider other opportunities to build shareholder value as they meet the changing needs of their local communities. [Continue]
These are bankers who have grown their organizations, organically or through acquisition or both; individuals who’ve resolutely climbed through the ranks; leaders who invested time and treasure to serve the industry or their colleagues; people who educated themselves on the issues that could make — or break — their institutions; visionaries who are able to see where their institutions need to be in three or six or nine years and put the work in now to chart that course. [Continue]
Landmark Bank, Manhattan, Kan., broke its previous quarterly earnings record in the third quarter by earning $5.4 million compared to $2.6 million last year. [Continue]
Remote meeting technology can be dressed up, or clothed as business casual. David Gurlé is founder and CEO of Symphony Communication Services, a remote team platform for business, launched in 2014. Gurlé explains why enterprise-level technology is necessary for remote teams and how COVID-19 has accelerated the evolution of this technology. [Continue]
Glacier Bancorp, Kalispell, Mont., ended the third quarter with income of $77.8 million, up from $51.6 million during the same time last year. [Continue]
Pandemic, civil riots, contentious (and contested) elections — and this wasn’t a dystopian movie script. This describes the year 2020. And because of this, the phrase “Hindsight is 2020” has been permanently removed from usage by many people; we don’t want to see this with clarity again. [Continue]