Page 26 - Summer 2023.2_Neat

FLOURISH

“So much of what we’ve seen in the last six months is banks

doubling down on what they’re good at doing: helping their
customers and communities in ways that nobody else can.”

As we enter budget season, the adage growth despite economic challenges,
“You can’t save your way to so much of what we’ve seen in the last
prosperity” hits home. With regulatory six months is banks doubling down on
and financial pressures, community what they’re good at doing: helping
banks face tough decisions as they their customers and communities in
allocate resources for 2024. ways that nobody else can.
I was just speaking with a banker who Community banks are building on their
reiterated that it’s been a while since tried-and-true relationship-based
REBECA we’ve been in this interest rate business models, exploring

ROMERO environment, and its impacts on the opportunities for new sources of
RAINEY cost of credit and renewals send us revenue generation, whether of
down a path of unknowns. So, when
payment products, specialty or niche
ICBA President and CEO.
rebeca.romerorainey@icba.org we begin budgeting, we have to find a areas of finance, or seeking other
meaningful way to anticipate what lies solutions that speak to individual
ACB is the ICBA
Arkansas state affiliate. ahead. customer bases.
But with this uncertainty comes an So much of what we do in budget
opportunity to look at solutions with a season is “put your head down, plug in
new perspective. The current economic the numbers and proceed forward.” But
environment has bank management pulling out of the weeds allows us to
teams laser-focused on how we grow see how we can take advantage of this
and create new revenue, all while time and think creatively about how
managing expenses. The reality is that we’re innovating for the future of our
interest expenses will be significantly organizations.
higher moving into the coming year, so And we’re not in it alone; we have a
we need to be asking, “What are we network of community banks on which
doing on the other side of the income we can rely. In fact, ICBA has just
statement to grow revenues?” Now’s launched ICBA Community
the time to think outside the box to (community.icba.org), a digital
ensure we continue to grow.
platform to help community bankers
Whether it’s stories of banks network and share information. I
continuing to increase deposit balances encourage you to use it to get insights
based on trusted relationships in the into creative ways your peers are
community or others who are managing this budget cycle.
introducing different types of deposit
products or identifying continued loan

Where I’ll be this month
I’ll be speaking at the Bluegrass Community Bankers Association and Indiana Bankers
Association conferences, encouraging bankers to continue using their peer network as
they think about the future.

A RKANSAS | 26 | Summer 2023
COMMUNITY BANKER