Pub. 9 2021 Issue 3

If there’s a constant in the world of a community bank investment manager, it’s disappointment. If you buy a bond today and yields go down tomorrow, you wish you’d have bought more; if yields go up, you wish you had bought none. If your overall portfolio has unrealized gains, you lament the poor yields that are available; if you are presented with attractive rates on new offerings, it means you’ve got losses on the balance sheet.

In our 64 years of providing Architecture and Design services throughout Montana, CWG Architecture & Interiors has seen the full evolution of banking facilities. Whether it was a lavish lobby with a long teller line, the advent of drive-thru banking, or facilitating virtual banking, we have helped clients adapt to the changing needs of the industry. While banking and construction have evolved at a blistering pace over the last six decades, at least one item has remained consistent. A successful project starts with a cohesive team.

When I first came into community banking, I quickly learned that our jobs are as much about education as they are about finance. While community bankers have deep knowledge of financial topics, most people don’t have that background. Statistics support that sentiment: The National Financial Educators Council reports that on the U.S. national financial literacy test, the average score hovers around 68%.

It strikes me as interesting that both Halloween and Cybersecurity Awareness Month fall in October. After all, the rapid rise in fraud during the pandemic would spook anyone and definitely keeps community bankers up at night, which is why meaningful monitoring and action continue to be necessary.

19-OCT   Job-Specific BSA Training for Senior Management & Directors20-OCT   Top 10 IRA Rollover Mistakes21-OCT   Reg E Investigation & Requirements for Debit Card Error Resolution26-OCT   Adverse Action at Account Opening: Reporting & Documentation27-OCT   HMDA Reporting Part 2: Collecting Demographic Information2-NOV   Mastercard Debit Card Chargebacks3-NOV   Board Secretary Training: Documenting Minutes, Corrections & Disagreements4-NOV   Robbery Prevention, Response &

Welcome to the last 2021 edition of the Montana Community Banker magazine. It is hard to believe that another year is drawing to a close. I write this article on a beautiful, bluebird, fall day in Montana. This beautiful “fall” is a welcome relief from one of the hottest, driest, and smokiest Montana summers I can recall.

For those of you who know me, or have read some of my articles, it is no secret I am a fervent advocate of community banking in Montana and a relentless supporter of independent banks across our great state. I believe in the mission of the MIB completely and am always trying to think of ways the MIB can improve its service to the membership. I am fortunate to be part of the MIB board of directors, which is populated with some of the brightest minds in Montana’s banking community. Together, we work on issues of concern for Montana’s independent community banks and try hard to spread the word regarding the value these banks bring to their cities and towns. To that end, the MIB has embarked on a digital advertising campaign across Montana designed to bring awareness to all our customers of the care we have for them and their financial and personal well-being. When clicked on, the ads bring the customer to an MIB landing page that gives them an option of finding an MIB member bank in their community. Since May, the campaign has delivered close to a million impressions and has generated a click-through rate better than the national average. These customers are getting the message of how we distinguish ourselves from the too big to fail banks — they actively search us out because they value the service and friendship we bring to their lives.