With tightening margins, inflation and high interest rates, community bankers face not only a challenging lending environment but also a battle to sustain deposits. Customers are more knowledgeable than ever and are prepared to shop across multiple channels to find the right fit for their deposit needs. So how can community financial institutions look to compete with larger banks and credit unions to attract those customers? Bring Your Personal Touch to the Digital World While big banks have access to more liquidity and economies of scale, community institutions have a long history of providing a personalized touch. Community bankers aren’t serving strangers; they are serving fellow community members whose names and needs they know. And historically, that has been enough to retain a competitive edge. Now, as depositors face rising costs due to inflation, motivating customers to deposit with your institution is not so simple. Customers are shopping for better rates and a simplified application process. At CitiBank, for example, customers can get a 4.35% APY by opening a savings account, and they can open that account in about 30 seconds through CitiBank’s website. With so much information right at the customer’s fingertips, community bankers must make sure their name isn’t lost in the noise. This means honing your search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to ensure your name is appearing alongside competitors in prospective customers’ search results. If the only information a prospective customer encounters is the flood of information big banks publish, they are going to go with the big bank. When prospects do arrive at your page, that page should be up-to-date with your current information, including WINNING THE BATTLE FOR DEPOSITS By Zach Harrod, Teslar Software 14 The CommunityBanker
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