The 49th Convention was one for the books! Monday started at The Cove golf course, where MIBA members, vendors and sponsors took to the course to show off their golfing skills. Some succeeded, and others simply enjoyed seeing friends, networking and visiting with many of the vendors that attended the conference. The general session featured speakers and vendors who were knowledgeable and shared information and products that could help community bankers in this ever-changing profession. Hopefully, everyone found a new product or service that they are willing to find out more about to help your bank thrive.
The scholarship auction was a huge success! I am always impressed by all the donations from banks and other businesses to help this important cause. It is exciting to know that the money raised will go directly to bank employees and/or their dependents to further their education.
Conventions like this could not be possible without everyone working behind the scenes. Planning for an event of this caliber takes time, patience and creativity. With that said, I would like to thank Matt, Michelle, Jessica and Rebecca for their hard work to make sure things went smoothly while ensuring everyone had a great time! I would also like to thank the vendors and the sponsors. Their support and prizes on the golf course, in the expo, and within general sessions were much appreciated.
I would also like to thank Curt Brumley for his commitment to MIBA as past president. He has given his time, talent and energy in many capacities. Thank you for your dedication to community banks and the MIBA.
I mentioned that banking is an ever-changing profession. The development of technology must be one of the largest changes I’ve seen throughout my career. Banking used to be facility-based and paper-driven. Today, mobile and online banking allows customers to make deposits, withdraw money, pay bills and open/manage accounts without stepping into a facility. The transfer of money between accounts is also much faster. The use of apps on smartphones allows customers to bank from anywhere. The services banks provide have changed significantly in the past 30 years and will continue to do so. Our task as community banks is to continue to provide new services and technology while having strong security in place for online fraud, technology outages or cyberattacks.
As technology continues to advance, our task is to keep our institutions and our customers’ finances safe. We must remember that community banks take pride in building relationships with customers. Even though technology allows patrons to do a lot of remote banking, it is still important to encourage visits to our brick-and-mortar locations. It helps build trust, can provide financial advice and allows for personal assistance. Keeping customers informed about the dangers of fraud and having open communication lines with them will help community banks maintain long-term loyalty, stability and growth while competing with mega-banks.
