Main Street Banking: A Podcast for Community Bankers

If there's anything we like more than banking around here...it's good food. Recently, I came across Hometown Bank of Alabama's website and, more particularly, their blog. It is definitely worth checking out. In addition to very timely and well designed financial information for customers (funding staycations, questions to ask when getting married, etc.) they have incorporated recipes from their employees and even highlighted their "kitchen" in video content. It's really cool stuff.

It is a master class in targeted content marketing and providing a space for community around the bank. But even more than that...I think it's a great example of a bank being a part of a community that they know so very well.

Check out their website at https://hometownbankal.com/ and their blog at https://hometownbankal.com/blog/ . I would like to give a special nod to Rose's Pecan Pie as it is the closest recipe I have found to my grandmother's pecan pie...and there is no higher compliment a southerner can bestow upon food!!!

You'll also want to check out their YouTube channel for more long form videos. https://www.youtube.com/c/HomeTownBankofAlabama

Finally, many thanks to ICBA Securities for their sponsorship. Be sure to check them out at https://www.icba.org/icba-securities

I am a strong believer in the teaching of banking principles in academia. That's a soapbox for another day...but I had crazy idea earlier in the semester that I wanted to try. Dr. David Kern, a long time member of our faculty, also teaches Advanced Banking 1 and 2 at Arkansas State University. At the beginning of the semester, I asked him if, at the end of the semester, we could get his students on the podcast and fire questions at us about the banking industry. In addition, let's pick their brains about what they see from their perspective.

What turned out was, in my opinion, a fascinating look at our industry from the banking leaders of tomorrow.

To the students who participated...thank you! Best of luck to you as you start this exciting time in your life and please don't hesitate to reach out to us if there is anything we can do to help you in your banking adventure!

Thank you to our sponsor, ICBA Securities, for their support...even when we do something "off the beaten path" like this! Check them out at https://www.icba.org/icba-securities

Continuing last week's conversation, Joe and I delve into one of my favorite topics to discuss with fintechs...looking ahead. What do you see? Where are the blindspots?

I think this is important for us to ask ourselves as well as our fintech partners. Any relationship has to see a future and know where that future is. Certainly things change...but if we're in sync with each other, then adjustments can always be made.

To learn more about Teslar Software, check them out at https://www.teslarsoftware.com/home?hsLang=en

And be sure to visit our sponsor, ICBA Securities at https://www.icba.org/icba-securities

Teslar Software was one of the first cohort members of the ICBA ThinkTECH and, since then, has grown to great heights. It's awesome to watch this company grow and never losing their focus on the community banking industry...or their founding mission to simplify workflows for banks. And it's just grown from there.

Today's part 1 of our conversation, Joe and I discuss Teslar's founding and 2020 when a software company in NW Arkansas ended up processing 20% of all the PPP forgiveness requests.

To learn more about Teslar, check out their website at https://www.teslarsoftware.com/home?hsLang=en

And thank you to our sponsor, ICBA Securities, for their support! https://www.icba.org/icba-securities

It's been a busy week with news impacting the markets and, therefore, community banks. ICBA Securities CEO Jim Reber is our go-to to keep us updated on this information and, as a result, we didn't want to wait until our regular drop day to bring you this update.

If there's one thing banking does...it's come up with acronyms! DDA, MOU, CRA, DEI, OREO (my favorite)...and recently BaaS. So, what is "banking as a service"? What does it really mean? What does it do for us? Why is it something that we need to pay attention to in the community banking industry?

Angus Ross, Chief Growth and Revenue Officer for BaaS at Finastra stopped by to have this conversation with us. We reference the whitepaper that Finastra commissioned several times on the show and you can find that here: https://www.finastra.com/viewpoints/white-paper/baas-global-outlook-2022

You can learn more about Finastra at https://www.finastra.com/

And finally, don't forget our sponsor, ICBA Securities and the good work they do. Learn more about them at https://www.icba.org/icba-securities

We've all heard the adage "know thyself". As in life, it is very true in the community banking world. There's just so much data...so much to know about different things. Today, David Ruffin from IntelliCredit is on the podcast to talk about how data can help in so many different areas of the bank...credit risk, financial performance, peer comparison, individual production...the list goes on and on.

Check out IntelliCredit at https://intellicredit.com/

And don't forget our sponsor, ICBA Securities, at https://www.icba.org/icba-securities

A lot to unpack today in just one 20 minute episode. Jeff Keltner, SVP of Business Development with Upstart, came by initially to talk about embedded finance and how it is used with community banks...especially in the auto lending field. As often happens on Main Street Banking, the conversation went several different places and we talked about big data's impact on credit risk and how using AI/Machine Learning can benefit the underrepresented communities across the country. Fascinating conversation.

To learn more about Upstart, check them out at https://www.upstart.com/

And as always, thank you to ICBA Securities for sponsoring the show!

https://www.icba.org/icba-securities

I thought that we should try something a little different. For awhile now, we've been talking about trying to get some kind of book club together and it hit me that doing this through the podcast might work. It might not...but we'll see.

If you don't already, follow the podcast's LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/main-street-banking-a-podcast-for-community-bankers and post a book suggestion. I'll put some posts out there too to remind you. Also, follow the hashtag #MainStreetBankingBookClub on LinkedIn. We'll announce the book and then just commit to read it together and talk about it.

Let's see what happens.

As always, thanks to our sponsor, ICBA Securities for their support! https://www.icba.org/icba-securities

In honor of National Women's History Month, we are going to have a conversation that is long overdue. We have today Alice Frazier (CEO of Charles Town Bank in Charles Town, WVa) and Kathy Underwood (CEO of Ledyard National Bank in Hanover, NH) to discuss their careers, leadership lessons, their advice to female bankers, and much more. These are two outstanding leaders in the community banking industry and have had an amazing career thus far with much more ahead. It turned out to be one of, I think, the best episodes we've done.

Many thanks to ICBA Securities for their sponsorship and check them out at https://www.icba.org/icba-securities