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Customers Are Key at Main St. Banks
Posted on February 4th, 2011 No comments“As a country we have gained new insights into the banking industry as a whole over the last several years, and the picture was less than favorable. If the consumer has learned anything it’s that there is a difference between Wall Street banking and Main Street banking. Exorbitant bonuses and treating customers like a number are not characteristics of community banking,” wrote Union State Bank President Jeffrey Kleiman and EVP Jim Lamack in a guest column in the Green Bay Post-Gazette. -
Federal Regulations Hinder Small Banks
Posted on January 20th, 2011 No commentsSome community banks in Wisconsin say new federal regulations are weighing them down. Eric Nottlestad is the vice president for Citizens First Bank in Viola. He says smaller banks are struggling to keep up with new regulations largely intended for Wall Street banks and other major institutions. Read more in the Pierce County Herald. -
‘Move Your Money’ to Community Banks
Posted on February 28th, 2010 No commentsA new online movement is encouraging people to take their money out of the big investment banks and bank locally instead, the Wausau Daily Herald reports. The “Move Your Money” project is online at www.moveyourmoney.info. Arianna Huffington and Rob Johnson of the Huffington Post came up with the idea.
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Editorial: Don’t Blame Community Banks
Posted on January 17th, 2010 No comments“Wisconsin’s community banks are stable members of their communities; they continue to finance businesses; and they’ve not gotten caught up in the financial gizmos created by the too-big-to-fail investment banks. So, they ask, why are we suffering for the sins of the Wall Street bankers and others whose credit default swaps, collateralized debt obligations and other risky behavior brought us to the brink of economic collapse? It’s a fair question,” writes the La Crosse Tribune in an editorial. Read more.
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Wisconsin Banker, Others Meet With President
Posted on December 23rd, 2009 No commentsDeloris Sims, CEO of Legacy Bank in Milwaukee, was one of just eight community bankers who had the opportunity to talk with President Barack Obama at the White House about bankers’ efforts to lend in the face of increased regulatory scrutiny. Read more on WisBusiness.com, in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel or in the Milwaukee Business Journal.
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Community Banks Too Small to Risk Embarrassment
Posted on May 11th, 2009 No commentsIts unlikely that any group of professionals is happier to highlight the dullness of their work than small-town bankers. Forget too big to fail. These banks consider themselves too small to risk embarrassment, The New York Times writes.
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FDIC Creates Community Bank Advisory Group
Posted on March 24th, 2009 No commentsThe FDIC is creating an advisory committee that will work on issues unique to community banking. The FDIC made the announcement on March 16 when Paul Nash, a former counselor to Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota, was named FDIC deputy for external affairs. Chairman Sheila Bair mentioned the new advisory committee in her speech at the ICBA convention in Phoenix. Read more on the NorthWestern Financial Review blog.