Community banks by definition are traditionally bound by geography that cloud banking deems irrelevant. Now foreign tech firms are reaching into the United States and jumping into the increasingly competitive field of all-things-cloud. [Continue]
While younger generations happen to be primarily big-bank customers, it’s not necessarily because they like to. Big banks capture their attention by focusing their marketing efforts on their “superior” technology, which overshadows smaller community banks. The truth is consumers across all generations prefer the localized, personal service they receive from community institutions. [Continue]
Noah Wilcox has had it up to his ears with the gloom-and-doom attitude that community bankers are unable to compete against the largest financial institutions. “I’ve heard it for a long time,” said Wilcox, chair, president and CEO of Grand Rapids State Bank, Grand Rapids, Minn., and chair/CEO of its sibling, Minnesota Lakes Bank, Delano. [Continue]
If you don’t believe we live in an angry, cynical world, wade on over to Twitter for a half an hour and drill down on the discourse. Yikes. A person who shares an innocuous opinion can, within minutes, find dozens have hacked their ideas into bloody chunks. [Continue]
On March 21, the U.S. Small Business Administration announced that small businesses adversely impacted by the coronavirus in Minnesota and Wisconsin could immediately apply for low-interest Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). Under the EIDL program, direct loans of up to $2 million per business are immediately available, and no national or state caps on the … Read more
Charitable giving in the United States amounts to about $400 billion each year. Three fourths of it is given in the traditional write-the-check, lick-the-envelope way. The consolidation of charitable giving and online banking is similar to what happened with online bill-paying 20 years ago. [Continue]
Interest for Others is an online giving network for banks, with 100 percent of donations given to local charities. Bill Dolan, the founder of the initiative, had the idea in 2013 when he looked at the interest he had earned on one of his checking accounts — $3.43. [Continue]
Federal and state regulators released a statement encouraging financial institutions to meet the financial needs of those affected by the coronavirus. [Continue]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has filed a suit against Fifth Third Bank over allegations it opened deposit and credit card accounts without customers’ knowledge or consent and transferred funds from consumers’ existing accounts into them. [Continue]
All banks are required to assess the risk of a pandemic to their business and have a plan to address providing continued service during such an event. Does your plan include a contingency to allow some employees to work from home? [Continue]