The same goes for your strategic plan. It is at the foundation of your bank, forming the basis for what will drive capital. It is a critical component to assuring an institution remains relevant and responsive to the needs of its community, while also contributing to stability and growth. Don’t think of it as an annual chore that you check off your to do list. Determining the future direction of the bank is one of the most important tasks a board of directors has. More than ever, today’s community bank strategic planning processes must be evaluated in light of not only the regulatory environment, but also the heightened due diligence required of directors. Then, once the plan is created, it needs to be implemented and continuously evaluated as the industry and surrounding communities change.

So what should you focus on during a strategic planning session? Every community bank is unique, and therefore, will focus on different matters. Vitex CEO Randy Roth has been assisting community banks with the strategic planning process for nearly 20 years.  Roth notes how critical a well-followed strategic plan is in these times where consumer sentiment and regulatory oversight seemingly turn on a dime. “Banks need to take their strategic plans seriously; it may be the driving force that keeps you out of trouble and on a path to heightened profitability,” says Roth.

Vitex recommends starting with the following:

• Define your target audience and the reason you are targeting them specifically.
• Define your bank goals.
• Define your external environment. This includes identifying opportunities, threats, strengths and weaknesses of your bank and your surrounding community. Consider laws and regulations, economic changes, technological trends, etc.
• Define your internal environment. Like stated above, identify your internal strengths, weaknesses, challenges and opportunities. This may include identifying processes that are working and why they are working or vise versa, staff skills and training, and communication channels.
• Review, and alter if needed, your mission and values.
• Develop strategies to reach your goals. For example, if profitably is your goal, based on the above data collected, ask yourself, “What will make our bank profitable? How will it make our bank profitable? Why is this strategy better than other strategies? How is it the same or different than what we are doing now?”
• Develop a specific plan of implementation.
• Develop a specific plan for evaluation, monitoring and implementation of your plan.

A strong, well-evaluated strategic plan provides guidance in fulfilling your mission with maximum efficiency and impact. Just remember, it is not a wish list; it is a realistic approach to the success of your community bank.  If you and your staff are committed to its implementation, your strategic plan will provide an invaluable blueprint for growth and revitalization, enabling your bank to take stock of where it is, determine where it wants to go and chart a course to get there.

Saving our environment, or “going green”, is imperative to our survival. From using energy saving vehicles to recycling to sending emails instead of hand-written notes, people everywhere are doing their part to make our world a better, healthier place to live. So what about you, as a bank; what are you doing?

Banks across the United States are taking their part by offering services such as electronic billing. While this is both environmentally friendly and convenient, the real question is: should you use “green” as part of your marketing effort?

At Vitex, we think you should spend your marketing budgets on something more important like re-building your bank’s reputation of trust and financial stability. Now don’t get us wrong, we think going green is extremely important, but we think it should be part of your social responsibility, not your advertising.

In a recent interview with American Banker, Johndrow said, “At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how much recycling you do as a company; unless that recycling ties back to the business, it’s not even going to register with the customers who matter most.”

When individuals are suffering daily because of the distressing job and housing market, green is not their top priority. They will make financial decisions based off who can provide the best services for their dollar while looking at strength and stability of the institution. These services, from optimizing technologies to advancing your customer service, are what you need to be marketing to your customers.

This brings us back to green. Instead of marketing that your bank is “going green,” why not add it to your social responsibility?

We believe having a strong social responsibility and public perception will lead to longevity of current customers and an increase in new customers, especially during these tough times. In addition, why market what most everyone else is doing? Over time, we think “going green” will become just as mainstream as having a website.

Think about it even deeper. Rather than “going green,” are there any other services you are marketing that are not cost effective? What about services you are performing on a daily basis that are costing you money and not returning profits?

We encourage you to step back and take a look at not only marketing, but every single aspect of your bank. By reducing inefficient services and underlying costs, you can increase your profit and effectiveness.

While many think the two devices are similar to the previous trend of laptop computers, the fact that they all connect to the Internet is about the only similarity. Technically speaking, the operating systems in smartphones and tablets are much, much different. With a simple tap of the screen, you can complete an action like that!

This new trend means no more typing in a web address and browsing to find what you need via a mouse. Instead, once an application (app) is downloaded onto your device, everything is configured into one, simple location.

The reason many people are not using traditional websites for financial transactions may be because they are not adaptable to easy operation on their smart device. For example, when transferring money, instead of having to type and go through multiple steps like on a conventional Internet banking website, an app allows you to complete the task by touching the fast-cash transfer button and dragging the dollar amount from one account to the other.

Simple, fast, flexible and convenient. Apps can be personalized so that everything is a touch away.

But, this app age is not only affecting the way you serve your customers externally, but also how you serve them within your bank branch. Employees can use the devices in direct interactions with customers to help serve them more quickly and conveniently. For example, tablets may be used to streamline the process of opening a new customer account. Traditionally, selling a new account includes using brochures or graphs to explain fees and terms; however, with the same information assembled on a tablet, the banker can work side by side with the customer to compare features, rates and other options.

Tablets will essentially be used in place of paper; not only as a way to sell, but also incorporating compliance requirements such as signature capture from clients. Instead of having clients fill out pages of paperwork, tablets will become the most efficient means to capture, process, store and retrieve data.

Have you thought about what “apps” the bank should provide for your customers and prospects?  Do you know how banking with mobile apps is going to change everything from traditional IT to employee training and customer service?  New consumer technologies bring cultural shifts to the way people bank and skills gaps to both customers and employees.  Some of the things that will change are:

• Security policies and Information Risk Management practices
• Internal policies, standards and procedures
• How we meet regulatory compliance
• How we audit IT security,
• The advice we offer to customers on security
• How we certify information systems
• More collaboration between departments implementing these technologies
• Business continuity and disaster recovery planning

The Aite Group recently published a study indicating smartphone spending is expected to grow from $16 billion annually in 2010 to $214 billion annually by 2014! This is not a trend. It is crucial for banks to adapt to this new platform to remain relevant in the app-age.

Outsourcing & Analysis

David brings over 24 years of experience in the financial services industry to his role as an Industry Expert.   More than 17 of those years were with Wachovia Corporation, now a Wells Fargo company.

Throughout his banking career, David held multiple senior level positions to include: Senior Vice President and Controller for Wachovia’s Wealth Management Business, Senior Vice President and Director of External/Regulatory Reporting for Wachovia Corporation and Senior Vice President and Director of Budget and Strategic Planning for Wachovia Corporation, Dominion Bankshares and Sovran Financial Corporation.  Over the span of his banking career, David gained broad knowledge of traditional banking, investment banking, insurance, brokerage, wealth management and honed core competencies such as:

• Strategic Planning
• Budgeting and Forecasting
• GAAP/Regulatory Reporting
• Internal Controls/Sarbanes Oxley
• Management and Board Reporting
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• Process Re-engineering
• Expense Management and Control
• Complex Financial Analysis and Modeling
• Business Processing Outsourcing

One of David’s significant achievements while at Wachovia was the development and implementation of the first multi-dimensional corporate-wide budget and forecasting platform using ESSBASE and EXCEL that is now a product in the Oracle suite.  He also transitioned the corporation to a “rolling forecast” concept eliminating the time consuming “zero based” budgeting process, cutting the planning cycle time in half.   This platform was built around sophisticated RAROC and SVA concepts to enhance true profitability measure and analysis.

Complimenting his banking experience, David served as Senior Vice President and Director of Outsourcing and Off-shoring for the Wealth Management division of Wachovia Bank.   He facilitated the successful transition of such functions as insurance accounting and billing operations, trust asset transfer operations, and investment performance measurement operations; resulting in 30% savings while maintaining 98% proficiency.  Building on this experience, David then accepted a role as the Executive Director of Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) Solutions for an international financial services outsourcing and off-shoring firm headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

David is a graduate of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA, with a B.S. Administration – Finance Concentration, a graduate of Peter Block’s “The School for Managing.” and a graduate of Applied Mergers & Acquisitions concepts developed by Robert F. Bruner Executive Director of Darden Graduate School, UVA.

Lisa’s financial services and project management career spans more than 26 years. Lisa most recently served as President and Chief Executive Officer of BHER Group, a project management company serving businesses and government agencies. Lisa’s experience includes mergers and acquisitions, contract negotiations and dispute resolution, system conversions, spend analysis, implementation of upfront scanning and digitization of files, and development of “burn charts” to demonstrate rate at which government deficit spending consumes reserve funds

Before embarking in project management, Lisa spent 17 years in financial services where she held various senior level positions. As President and Chief Executive Officer of Zeba Capital Inc., a registered investment advisory company, Lisa provided portfolio management, investment analysis and investment policy compliance services to state and local governments.

Lisa served as President and Chief Executive Officer of First Trust California, a wholly owned subsidiary of First Bank Systems, where she built the banks west coast trust franchise through various acquisitions.  Lisa conducted both operating and financial due diligence and post merger consolidation. The acquisitions achieved 100% client retention and cost reduction goals. Lisa also held the positions of Vice President Corporate Finance Group and Vice President Operations. Her tenure in operations achieved significant operating improvements through implementing cost cutting technologies and re-engineering workflows. The strength of the resulting operating platform allowed for the success of the acquisition strategy.

Lisa is also adept in identifying process imperfections. While with Deloitte she managed a client’s  “post merger” stabilization and resolved $900 million in accounting discrepancies with no financial detriment to the institution. This gave her in-depth experience working with regulators.

Lisa also served as a faculty member at Heald and Springfield Colleges. She holds a B.S. in management and finance from Roger Williams University and is a certified Project Management Professional through the Project Management Institute. She serves on Florida’s Early Learning Advisory Council and is Chair of the Early Learning Coalition of Pasco and Hernando Counties, where she was appointed by Governor Bush and reappointed by Governor Crist. She also serves on the Planning and Zoning Commission for Hernando County and is an avid soccer fan.

This represents the beginning of the third phase of the Bureau’s complaint program. The first phase began in July, when they started taking complaints on credits cards; the second phase began in December, when they began accepting complaints about mortgages and home loans. The bureau hears directly from consumers about the problems they face, and they are helping bring consumers’ concerns to the attention of financial institutions. By the end of this year, the CFPB will be taking all concerns from all areas within financial institutions.

From cashing a paycheck to paying monthly bills, checking and savings accounts are used every day in most American’s lives. Specifically, the complaints will be concentrated around account opening, closing and management; deposits and withdrawals; debit and ATM cards; money transmitting; and problems related to low account funds.

How will this impact you? The CFPB expects all banks to respond to complaints within 15 days of the formal complaint with the goal of closing the complaint within 60 days. Complaints that remain unresolved are open to enforcement action are likely to be subject to investigations.

Just since July 2011, more than 20,000 complaints have been made, so this is not something banks can take lightly.

At Vitex, we encourage you to review your bank account processes – from opening and sustaining an account to ensuring your ATM and online banking technologies coincide correctly and efficiently. This may take time an effort, but doing so will enable you to provide the most effective bank account services; therefore, decreasing the number of complaints you receive, increasing customer satisfaction and customer sustainability; and decreasing your chance of getting investigated by the CFPB. Every effort you make toward making your bank the best will surely pay off in profits and efficiencies.

Download a printable brochure describing our Bank Profit Optimization service.

Bank Profit Optimization

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Often, banks are responding to the burden of decreased revenues in traditional ways, such as eliminating debit rewards or free checking; however, in the long run, this significantly decreases customer satisfaction. Thus, you are hurting your bank’s bottom line even more than before!

So what can you cut that will not only decrease the costs of running your banking, increasing profits; but what will also keep your customers happy? It is time to walk away from multiple third-party vendors, manual processes, workarounds and duplication of work, all of which cost the bank money and are prone to errors and inconsistencies, and focus your eyes on one, core processing system.

At Vitex, we are seeing more community banks review their core processing and other processing agreements for more favorable pricing and better contract terms and conditions. Banks are converting to vendors with more robust and integrated solutions. The more tightly integrated systems also become important as banks struggle with managing risk and providing the executive reporting needed in today’s regulatory and changing business environment.

The goal is to reduce vendor relationships and acquire the agility to tackle tasks across multiple channels – such as mobility, new online capabilities and the cloud – using one, cohesive system.

Modernizing your core banking platforms can not only help reduce back office expenses, but also expand and improve customer relationships, creating opportunities for new revenues. While every bank is different, some of the greatest rewards of upgrading to a core processing system include:

1.)   Improved operational efficiency. Processing will no longer have the twists, turns and added workarounds like with multiple third-party vendors. Everything will be combined into one, holistic process.

2.)   Saving money. At Vitex, we see banks save 15 to 40 percent on vendor negotiations.

3.)   Improved customer satisfaction. A core processing system will allow for integrated, real-time customer data and service across the board.

4.)   Helping defeat regulation burdens. Not only are core processing systems easier to work with, but some even have compliance features built right in.

The new bureau is being built from the ground up, and it is nothing like other agencies that oversee banks. Their new mission focuses completely on the consumer, not the bank, and it is shaping itself to be the single place to go for all financial services complaints. Mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act, a center for complaints is no lie; visit their website to see for yourself… you won’t miss the area to submit complaints!

Raji Date, an assistant to President Obama and special advisor to the Treasury Secretary has been running the CFPB as Richard Cordray was awaiting appointment as director. During this time and now, they are hiring ex bankers with specialties to head up specific regulatory activities. Date stated, “’We’re going to take this job seriously. And when people are doing the wrong thing, we’re going to hold them to account.’”

Accompanying these strong values, key duties and concepts the CFPB will embrace include:

1.) Spring-cleaning. ABA Banking Journal stated CFPB will “deeply examine candidates for regulatory streamlining.” This includes endeavors including blending the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act to focusing on customers and industry workers alike. They began digging first into credit products and are moving quickly to mortgages. You must ensure your products meet regulatory requirements to a “t”. If there is any room for misinterpretation, consumer complaints will increase.

2.)   Consistency. CFPB will work openly with agencies to develop a unified voice regarding regulatory standards such as the definition of fair lending. This is critical during a time when compliance deadlines must be made quickly. How your institution has done things in the past may not resemble how you will do things going forward, and it is your responsibility to alter your processes to meet the needs of your customers.

3.)   Consumer-focused. As noted above, the bureau is working to ensure consumers understand all products and service terms and conditions. Bankers must monitor your records of complaints very carefully, adjusting processes as needed. Complaints are the perfect window for potential issues with the CFPB.

While the CFPB may only conduct examinations of large banks with over $10 billion in assets, community banks must keep a close eye on what the CFPB is doing. New interpretations of the consumer laws and “best practices” will be applied to all banks, regardless of size. For example, new regulatory standards will mean more compliance costs. You will need to evaluate and adjust accordingly with each change.

So as you continue the climb back to prosperity, keep a close watch on all regulatory standards and ensure your bank is consumer-focused.

Chris Munzo comes to Vitex as an executive with over 28 years of experience in banking and banking technology.

Chris began his career as a commercial lender, spending eleven productive years with banks in Philadelphia, PA and Tampa, FL.  His responsibilities included new business development and client management.  Following, the strong housing market in Florida brought Chris into residential mortgage lending, where he spent the next seven years.  During his time in Florida, Chris was presented with the unique opportunity to start and grow the mortgage lending department for The Terrace Bank, a community bank based in Tampa, FL.

From there, Chris moved to Fiserv, a global leader of technology solutions in the financial world, and was responsible for selling loan origination, servicing technology, and outsourcing services to financial institutions.  During his more than eleven years there, Chris was named corporate-wide sales executive of the year and was later awarded the top sales executive in the category of payments and lending.  His efforts centered on a consultative process including the documentation of business processes, the introduction of “best practices,” and detailed software selection projects.