Where are your main bank and branches located? What is the market like?
Our original location is in Russellville. Our first branch was opened in Eugene over 15 years ago, and a third location followed in Versailles. We are a largely agriculture-based bank, dealing a lot with families and, of course, farmers. But we have a wide variety of customers and cater to several different types of accounts and customers.
What is something unique about your bank?
Our level of customer service really sticks out to me. We are a hometown bank that strives to get to know our customers so we can provide the best personalized service that we can. We are from, and still live in, the communities that we are serving. Our customers are our neighbors, friends and family, and we are proud to take care of them in the best possible way available to us. We changed our name close to 15 years ago, and I was part of that team. We worked with a marketing company to come up with the new name, and it became apparent to them very quickly that “community” would have to be part of our name because of how close we are with our customers.
How did you get started in the banking business?
I was actually graduating from Missouri State University and needed a break from the current field I was working in. It was a very emotionally demanding and highly stressful field, so I was looking for a job that would allow me to take a step back for a bit to regroup. I was hired on as a teller here, thinking it would be for a little while until I was ready to go back. It turns out I found my career and never left. This year, it will be 21 years since I started with the bank, and it has flown by. I found it by chance and am glad every day that I did.
What is the most important thing you have learned from this career so far?
Everyone has something to teach others. Everyone can have their own expertise and their own story to share. I have been at this job for a couple of decades now and have met people from all walks of life. It’s made me be more open to so many more opportunities, not just in my career but in life as well. I know that I don’t know everything, and I can learn something from just about anyone. It may be something large, or it may be something almost inconsequential. But it keeps it interesting and can really open up the relationship between you and the customer when you’re willing to listen and learn what they have to share.
What prompted you to want to begin a career in banking?
It was something I kind of fell into. Honestly, banking had never been anywhere on my radar. I had been focused more on the social sciences, and I wanted to help people. And much to my surprise, I have ended up in a job where I have that opportunity every day. I didn’t set out to start a career in banking, but every day is a reminder that I ended up where I am supposed to be. Every interaction with one of our customers is an opportunity to fix something, to make something better, to make something easier for them or maybe just brighten their day for a minute.
What is the most interesting thing you have learned from this transition to the banking industry?
The transition from “this is just a temporary job” to “this could be something I actually make a career out of” came when I saw how involved we actually can be in our customers’ lives and how much of an impact we can have. Working for a hometown bank is so much more than just running transactions, opening accounts or answering phones. We become someone our customers know and trust, someone they can turn to in a time of need, whether big or small. I have been called to help with anything from someone thinking they have fraud on their account to someone who thought their Facebook account was hacked, and when they couldn’t get a hold of anyone else, they knew the bank was right down the road and that we would help. It is humbling to know how much they can trust us, and it is something that makes me strive to be worthy of that trust.
Tell us about the bank’s community investment efforts.
Community Point Bank invests in our community every day in so many different ways. From simply lending our tents for shade at a fundraiser to providing financial backing for the local fireworks show every year, we have done it. We provide scholarships to local graduating students and donate every week to different organizations, groups and school activities. Every year, we invest in the up-and-coming generations through 4-H activities, supporting the local fairs and so on. Twice now, we have been fortunate enough to be able to help a local school get a brand-new football program running and get the new scoreboards up. And beneath all of that is the financial service we provide for our communities. We work hard every day to make sure the products we offer benefit our customers and fill the financial needs of the area we are serving. From checking accounts to home loans, from donations to actually showing up and helping with events, we are here for our community.
What is the bank’s biggest challenge in the area of online/mobile banking?
Fraud. I cannot stress that enough. It is growing and changing every day, and working to stay on top of the latest trends or the next scam can be a full-time job. Whether it is fraudulent charges on a debit card or a fake check that has been mobile deposited, it is a challenge that affects all areas of the bank. One reason I really appreciate how well we get to know our customers is that it helps us in fighting fraud, and if they know us just as well and trust us, they are more likely to come to us for help.
What’s your favorite thing about your bank or banking in general?
As cliché as it may be, it’s knowing I can help my customers. It is the relationships we form over the years, and when they don’t hesitate to call you for help, it makes it all worth it. One time, I had an elderly couple come to me at the bank because a scammer was calling them, harassing them about owing money. Technically, it had nothing to do with the bank yet, but I was happy to call the scammer back with them and prove it was a scam. I managed to get the message through to the caller that now that I was involved, they would not be getting any money from the couple. I was able to help remove that problem from their lives before it affected them more. They came to us because we had helped them throughout the years, and they knew we would again. Knowing you can have even a small impact on someone’s life to help make it better, that they will trust that you will be there for them, will always be the thing that keeps me coming back.
If you didn’t have a career in banking, what other career would you choose?
I have always been interested in psychology: what makes people who they are and how that dictates and affects how they act and grow in life. It is fascinating to me how people from the same area can see and react to the exact same situation so differently. I was working in a social service job that was furthering my interest in human behavior, so I may have pursued something in that field had I not found a career in banking.
