Main Street Banking: A Podcast for Community Bankers

As most of us know, the Federal Reserve last week upped their rate by 25 bps. This is the 3rd time in the 21st century that this has happened and this is likely to have an impact on your bank's balance sheets. Jim Reber, CEO of ICBA Securities, is on today to give us his market update for community banks.

To learn more about ICBA Securities and to learn more about the class referenced in the episode, check out https://www.icba.org/icba-securities

It's not often that you can have a 20 or so minute conversation with a large software company about corporate culture, the cloud, and community banking. I really enjoyed getting to know Will Cameron (SVP of Community and Regional Banking) with nCino. Their partnerships with community banks is an approach that listeners of the show will know is the way forward for the industry and Will is a fellow true believer when it comes to having the software tools and the culture in line in order to thrive.

Check out nCino at https://www.ncino.com/

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

It is safe to say that the world has changed. Outside of that being the most obvious statement that you've read on the show notes, the important questions are...how do we maintain it and why is it important.

Any long time listener to the podcast knows this is a huge topic with us, but that doesn't mean we won't visit this often particularly when we can have Brad Federman on to discuss this!

Brad is the founder/CEO of PerformancePoint LLC here in Memphis and one of our highest rated faculty members at the graduate school. A member of the Forbes Coaches Council, he is one of the leading voices in corporate culture and its impact on performance.

He also has new book out that entitled Cultivating Culture that you can find at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1637740638?psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp

I'm going to embed a preview of the book on the Barret site so be sure to check that out.

Also, be sure to check out PerformancePoint at https://performancepointllc.com/

and finally, many thanks to ICBA Securities for their sponsorship of the podcast which allows us to have this type of content that we feel is VERY necessary for the community banking industry. Find out more about them at https://www.icba.org/icba-securities

Today we are wrapping up the ICBA Live event! Hope you have enjoyed getting back together with your family of bankers and just reconnected. I've been wanting to bring back the guys from Botdoc for awhile and we finally were able to coordinate schedules to make it happen. Botdoc is an alum of the ICBA ThinkTECH Accelerator Powered by the Venture Center.

We have a really fun conversation with Kevin Falk and Tracy Fox from Botdoc about innovation and the human experience and how to think about innovation in your bank...and then...things go off the rails, but we had a ton of fun talking about things we are passionate about around community banking. It's about as authentic of a podcast episode as I know how to make.

Go check out Botdoc at https://botdoc.io/

Also, don't forget to check out our sponsor, ICBA Securities, at https://www.icba.org/icba-securities

If you follow any of the community banking lists on Twitter, it won't take you long before you come across Pres Kennedy. He is one of the leading voices in the community banking industry. He is not shy to talk about his feelings on advocacy...at all! However, what I found interesting was his thoughts on the succession planning his bank recently undertook as well as his advice to bankers. Listeners and readers of Barret's content will know that I try and ask bankers that are moving into that post-daily banking phase...what will you miss? I have yet to be disappointed in the answer and always find I have learned something new. I hope you feel the same here.

To follow Pres on Twitter (and you really should) search for @BankPres

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

Vanessa Hanson is the Digital and Social Engagement Director for the ICBA. Her passion for engagement via social media is palpable and I know you'll see that in the podcast. In addition, we both are attending ICBA Live in San Antonio this year and have some really cool ideas for that as well!

All in all, it was a great conversation about community banks' approach to social engagement, what works, and why it works.

As always, many thanks to our sponsor, ICBA Securities! Be sure you check them out at https://www.icba.org/icba-securities

We've all dealt with it. KYC...Know Your Customer. I am definitely not downplaying it's role in compliance and the safety of the bank, but let's be honest...we believe we already "know our customers", right?

Let's set aside how we really don't know every single one of our customers and the implications there around money-laundering and the like and ask a different question...what about in new markets? Do you know Joe the grocer or Bill the plumber or Susie the lawyer there?

Jamie Ramirez is the CEO of Preventor, a next-gen ID verification and financial crime risk management firm. In talking with him leading into the show, he talked about this idea of KYC expanding into new markets. I'd never considered that before. If I'm being honest...KYC was something I made sure our CSR's were doing, I'd tow the company line because I understood why (although it was a pain), and the loan ops department would occasionally have to remind me to get ID's on customers. But approaching KYC as a crucial part of the marketing strategy?! Never thought of that...so, we talked about that in today's podcast.

Check out Preventor at https://preventor.com/

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

The Fed had their quarterly meetings last week. Here today to give us an update on this and what it means for community banks is Jim Reber, Pres/CEO of ICBA Securities.

We thank Jim for his sponsorship as well as coming on to give us updates in this area for us.

Be sure to check out their site at https://www.icba.org/icba-securities

How are we going to leave this thing we call community banking to the next generation? That's the question I struggled with as a judged a district competition for young business leaders. The talent level of these students is off the charts. Our industry, if we engage in ways that are meaningful and consistent, will be in good hands. BUT...we have to engage in ways that are meaningful and consistent. The old playbook needs to be thrown out the window. It's time to get in the classrooms and get involved!

I mentioned the Barret Roundtable in this. Here's the site if you'd like more information about it https://barretbanking.org/landings/roundtable-series/

Also, many thanks to our sponsor, ICBA Securities. https://www.icba.org/icba-securities

Sharon Anderson, President and CEO of Williamstown Bank in West Virginia faced the same problems most community banks face...intense competition, decline of lobby traffic, etc. To boot, she took over the week before the pandemic really took off in March 2020. But that didn't stop her...the bank started a donation based coffee shop and decided to undertake renovating the branches.

This brings us to David Welsh with the La Macchia Group. La Macchia has a very interesting approach in working with banks and other financial institutions to change their engagements with the community and one of the main areas here is rethinking the branch design.

I'm betting that most of us could get around in most community bank branches fairly easily. The layout hasn't changed much. But...what if it did? What if we approached this like the title of the show says (a direct quote from Sharon in the episode)...we created a branch experience that goes hand-in-hand with our digital one?

Check out La Macchia here: https://www.lamacchiagroup.com/

Learn more about Williamstown Bank and The Giving Cup here: https://www.williamstownbank.com/

And as always, many thanks to our sponsor, ICBA Securities: https://www.icba.org/icba-securities