In a recent article for Bank Director, Jeff Grobaski, CEO of Epic River, a lending-as-a-service platform, emphasizes the unique advantage community banks have in fostering local business relationships to drive growth. Key Takeaways: Community Focus: Unlike national banks, community banks have a deeper understanding of their local markets and can build stronger connections with businesses in their communities. Identifying High-Potential Businesses: Grobaski suggests focusing on businesses with top talent, strong community leadership, and those in growth industries, such as healthcare, green energy, and technology. Building Trust: Community banks can leverage personal relationships and referrals to build trust with potential business clients, offering a more personalized experience than larger institutions. Meeting Needs: By understanding the specific needs of local businesses, community banks can tailor financial solutions that cater to their growth and resilience. Grobaski highlights that the pandemic-induced economic stimulus presents a unique opportunity for community banks to capitalize on their local presence and foster relationships with high-performing businesses, ultimately leading to increased deposits, loan demand, and overall growth.

In an era of evaporating deposits, community banks find themselves at a pivotal crossroads. As the dust has settled from a tumultuous first half of this year, financial institutions are looking to learn from others' mistakes. Bank boards have taken action to improve interest rate resiliency and leadership teams have identified areas ripe for efficiency improvement but the area still in dire need of innovation is deposit account identification and capture. This begs the question: Are community banks tapping into the right customer base? Is there an opportunity to solve a market problem that could, in turn, solve one of banking's biggest problems?

Can Community Banks Capitalize On Available Talent?

Digital lending used to be a “nice to have” feature in the community banking world; now it is considered table stakes. While digital transformation was already underway with online applications, mobile banking apps, and more, the use of digital solutions skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We’re all in this together is the mantra of the COVID-19 era. Cable companies are giving premium channels to quarantined customers, car dealerships are deferring payments for months at a time, and free delivery is standard for many restaurants these days.

Work With Healthcare Providers and Their Patients Deposit growth is critical for the success of any financial institution. Without it, banks can’t fund the loans that consumers want and need. However, attracting new deposit opportunities isn’t quite as simple as it used to be. Let’s just say that a free toaster doesn’t go as far as it once did. Instead, savvy banks have been scanning the landscape for unexpected deposit sources, and then marketing themselves as the bank of choice via a robust combination of products and services.