Community Banks Support Communities
- Local Focus: Unlike larger banks that may take deposits in one state and lend in others, community banks channel their loans to the neighborhoods where their depositors live and work, which helps local businesses and communities thrive.
- Relationship Banking: Community bank officers know their customers and may consider family history and discretionary spending in making loans where larger banks apply impersonal qualification criteria, such as credit scoring, without regard to individual circumstances.
- Innovation: As high-tech, high-touch local financial institutions, community banks work with their customers to ensure they have access to innovative products and services while partnering with and investing in financial technology providers.
- Lending Leadership to Small Business: According to the Federal Reserve’s Small Business Credit Survey: Report on Employer Firms, community banks are the small business lender of choice.
- 79 percent of independent businesses that used community banks report they were satisfied with their overall experience, compared with 67 percent for large banks and just 49 percent for online lenders.
- 79 percent of independent businesses that used community banks report they were satisfied with their overall experience, compared with 67 percent for large banks and just 49 percent for online lenders.
- Timely Decision-Making: Community banks offer more timely decision-making on business loans because decisions are made locally. Big Banks must often convene loan-approval committees located in another state, far away from their customers.
- Community Engagement and Accessibility: Community bank officers are typically deeply involved in their local communities, while the larger bank's officers are often detached from the communities where their branches are located.
As local small businesses themselves, community banks only thrive when their customers and communities flourish.