Today we’re still feeling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, but there will come a time when all of America goes back to work and our family and business finances reach a stable new normal. And when that time comes and the dust settles people all over the country will begin assessing how their banks showed up for them in the midst of the crisis. All of the perceived benefits of big banking seem to fade into the background when people want to be known as anything more than a number.
I think we should start by putting all of our cards on the table. When it comes to handing out SBA PPP loans, Surety Bank is doing business first with our own customers. We, just like all other banks, have a long list of people who are applying for loans to keep their businesses up and running. When we triage that list and determine who to serve first, our current, loyal customers will always rise to the top. If our clients are willing to do us the honor of banking with us in good times, we’ll do them the honor of serving them in hard times.
The same kind of treatment cannot be promised from the big bank down the road. That’s not to say that those banks aren’t also doing their best to get resources to people in need. But, their triage list is much longer than ours, and there’s a great chance that the people at the top of their list are the people with the most digits in their bank balance.
Now that two waves of SBA/PPP loans have come through, Surety was able to successfully loan money to all of our regular customers who applied as well as some new customers, maximizing money dispersed in the local community.
I’ve heard it said that Surety Bank is like the Cheers of banking. The place where everyone knows your name. For years, people we’re choosing large banks over small ones because large banks had invested in technology in ways that small banks weren’t able to. But now things have shifted and banks like ours are leading the charge in technology and taking big steps in innovation to be of better service to our clients. These days, our Surety clients get the quality and resources of a big bank with the community feeling of a small bank. Isn’t this exactly who banking clients want on their side in times of crisis?
Once we’ve all finished reeling from the Coronavirus pandemic, we’ll have a moment to take a deep breath and reflect upon whether or not our needs were met by our service providers. In that time clients will reconsider their banking relationships and I believe many will see local banking as the better option for their personal and business money. It’s up to us as banks to determine which side of history we want to be standing on.
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