Pub. 4 2014-2015 Issue 3

22 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 A legal partner you can trust. Our advantage is simple—we understand the business. Stinson Leonard Street’s banking attorneys have broad experience in matters related to financial services, including commercial lending, mergers and acquisitions, regulations and compliance, litigation and payment systems. Bank on our reputation and knowledge. stinsonleonard.com Ernie Panasci Kristin Godfrey The choice of a lawyer is important and should not be based solely on advertisements. 5613 DTC Parkway, Ste. 970 | Greenwood Village, CO 80111 | 303.376.8400 Offices in Denver as well as Minneapolis, Mankato and St. Cloud, Minn.; Kansas City, St. Louis and Jefferson City, Mo.; Phoenix; Washington, D.C.; Wichita and Overland Park, Kan.; Omaha, Neb.; Bismarck, N.D.; and Decatur, Ill. Perry Glantz Deborah Bayles 20638 CO Banker Ad_Half pg 1/6/14 11:20 AM Page 1  Affordable Care Act – continued Ascensus is the nation’s largest independent retirement and college savings services provider, helping over 6 million Americans save for the future. The firm partners with financial institutions to provide tailored solutions for financial professionals, employers, and individuals. In total, Ascensus supports over 43,000 retirement plans and 3million 529 college savings accounts and administers more than 1.5 million IRAs and health savings accounts. Call 800-346-3860 for more information or go to www.ascensus.com . they have more freedom to choose where to place their HSAs—is your organization equipped and ready? The Opportunity HSA stands for health savings account, but when examining the direct and indirect revenue opportunities of these accounts, we should rename them to align with the HSA strategy for the post-ACA world. HSA = having something available. It does not cost much to offer HSAs to your customers. Financial organizations need to offer forms, documents, and have the ability to do the required tax reporting. Offering HSAs opens the door to more than new HSA ac - counts; it shows new customers that your institution has all of the financial products and services that are important to them. So where is the revenue? In a direct sense, HSAs can drive some noninterest revenue for your organization through a variety of fees. Most deposit HSAs are housed in DDA accounts and tied to a debit or check card. According to a recent study by Devenir, HSA accounts with check cards are swiped an average of eight times a year, with an average transaction amount of approxi- mately $120. This is quantifiable exchange fee revenue, along with any low-balance, account closing or transfers fees that your organization could impose. Another real revenue opportunity, is in that 27-year-old, “just fell off of my parents’ insurance” crowd. These individuals likely are a targeted demographic group by your financial organization today— albeit not for HSAs. As you expand your customer base and drive revenue, particularly through lending, this generation of Americans is the future of your lending and deposit programs. HSAs can, at best, give you a competitive edge in acquiring and retaining customers. At worst, the lack of offering HSAs could send a loyal customer down the street potentially taking other lending business and accounts with them. HSAs are not going to drive massive revenue for your insti- tution. What they can do is be a profitable niche product that enables you to round out your portfolio of financial products that you make available to prospective and existing customers. It’s a small game, but there are few, if any, downsides to not getting into it. The upsides always will be difficult to quantify, but the downsides of not offering HSAs are not. So, I ask again, with HSAs poised for even greater expansion and availability in 2014, is your financial organization in the game or on the sidelines? n