PRI Blog

April is Community Banking Month, which the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) calls “a celebration of the independent spirit and unwavering commitment of community banks to help consumers and small businesses achieve their financial goals to create communities of prosperity nationwide.” In April, PRI is celebrating some of the excellent community banks that we’re […]

Just more than a year after OpenAI released its Large Language Model (LLM) chatbot ChatGPT and the rapid expansion of AI in general, many in the banking industry are looking at how they can join the AI race. However, the desire to jump into AI without a clear plan or understanding of what AI platforms […]

Community banks have long been pillars of the local community, intricately interwoven with its small businesses, governmental entities, and the everyday lives of its citizens. In fact, community banking represents approximately 90% of all banks in the US! In today’s highly competitive and fast-moving financial services environment, growth is at the forefront of everyone’s minds. […]

For almost a generation now, financial institutions have embarked on a bit of a digital arms race. Starting with the simplest online banking applications and moving up from there, digital banking assets were collected. Technology vendors purchased newer products and included them in their digital suites using traditional programming technology to create interfaces. Today, however, […]

The community banking industry is at a pivotal stage. Financial institutions have experienced continuing margin pressure over the past year, demonstrating less rate elasticity than many anticipated in the rising rate market. They also have seen increasing pressure from non-banking competition and rising customer expectations. With the drastic contraction of the number of deposit-holding institutions […]

While there are many in-depth approaches to process improvement initiatives out there, often small- to medium-size financial institutions have neither the time nor the resources to tackle a complete overhaul of the organization. With that said, there are countless valuable opportunities available to make small improvements that will lead to excellent results. Cultivating an atmosphere […]

Process improvement means change to any organization and tends to be met with some level of resistance. Because change is not necessarily easy, process improvement projects don’t always move forward like they should. With the constant change in the banking landscape, particularly with technology, it is critical that process improvement projects remain a priority and […]

So, you’ve done all the major work to select a new core system, including ensuring that it aligns with your organization’s strategy and long-term goals. You’ve worked hard to select the right vendor and the right internal team to prepare for implementation, which may have taken several months or a year. Now launch day has arrived, and your top goal is to accomplish a seamless integration that will bring you out the other side without losing customers or frustrating your employees. How do you do it?

You’ve done the hard work of acquiring a customer, and now you want to deepen the relationship. Customer Engagement is the process – or journey – that can result in increased loyalty, advocacy, and customer lifetime value. But how does a financial institution go about attacking the Customer Engagement challenge? While there is no simple or comprehensive list of strategies, Tom McGill, PRI Director of Customer Experience, tackles a few topics to consider that can be effective as you move down the engagement path.

Twenty years ago, when cash was still a primary payment method, surcharge-free ATM access was an important competitive tool for smaller FIs including community banks and credit unions. Consumers were generally using cash for most small ticket purchases, sensitive to ATM-related fees and often chose their banking relationship based upon this kind of access. But times have certainly changed! Fast forward to current day, and the importance of ATM access has declined substantially. There has been a steep decline in the number of ATM cash withdrawals in recent years and in cash share of consumer payments with the rise of mobile payments, online shopping, cash back at point of sale and the increased use of debit and credit cards. Consumers have reduced need and desire to pay with cash, which means the surcharge-free offering may no longer be strictly necessary to attract and retain them.