Pub. 10 2020-2021 Issue 5

O V E R A C E N T U R Y : B U I L D I N G B E T T E R B A N K S — H E L P I N G C O L O R A D A N S R E A L I Z E D R E A M S www.coloradobankers.org 8 BY KYLEE WOOTEN, ABRIGO HowCFIs CanRemainRelationship-Focused in a Digital World A relationship-based, community focus in a digital world Banking technology and digital offer - ings have long been associated with mil- lennials and Gen Z’s preferences, but the coronavirus has quickly reshaped banking behaviors. Since the coronavirus outbreak, almost half of banking customers have reported changing how they interact with their financial institutions, leveraging new channels like online and mobile banking, according to an FIS survey. These findings are true among all generations surveyed. Community financial institutions, which have traditionally leaned into relation- ship-based banking and in-person inter- actions, are now trying to solve how to maintain their hallmark community focus in an increasingly digital world. “We’ve always wanted customers, over time, to transition to more of our digital or electronic connections because it’s just such an affordable delivery channel,” said Tom Hershberger, president and CEO at Cross Financial, during a podcast with Abrigo. Without the ability to have face-to-face branch interactions due to the coronavirus, it became imperative for financial institutions to serve customers effectively through digital channels. In today’s environment, digitalization isn’t just a nice-to-have — it’s a necessity. Balancing digitization and personal service Community financial institutions must strike the right balance between digitali- zation and personal service. This is fairly new territory to many institutions, how- ever. In Abrigo’s 2020 Business Lending Readiness Survey conducted in late Q4 2019, community financial institutions revealed numerous ineffective, poorly au - tomated areas within their banks or credit unions, including manual data entry, re-keying customer information innumerable times, and using Excel spreadsheets to manage the borrower pipeline. One reason some communi- ty financial institutions may be reluctant to adopt more digitaliza- tion is due to the belief that it leads to a more impersonal customer experience. However, as we saw in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), digitization allows commu- nity financial institutions to auto - mate many lending areas that bog lenders down. It enables a quicker turnaround to get money into the borrowers’ hands faster. The PPP exposed many areas where technology excelled over tradition- al processes, freeing up lenders’ time spent on manual processes for more value-added services for clients. Financial institutions that acted quickly to help their com- munity businesses were highly appreciated for their goodwill and swift action during this challeng- ing time. Community financial insti - tutions’ experience with PPP technology also translates to other areas of lending. While it may take a while to return to “normal,” financial institutions can use this time to determine ways technolo- gy can create efficiencies in their current lending processes and reimagine customer interactions moving forward. Capitalizing on PPP innova- tions for a better experience To reduce the need for face-to- face engagement during the initial PPP application window, some community financial institutions leveraged technology that enabled their bank or credit union to develop a “digital branch.” These institutions used customer-facing innovations such as online loan