Where is your main bank and branches located? What is the market like?
Pony Express Bank is chartered out of Braymer, Missouri but the majority of our business comes from the Liberty branch located in the Northeast Kansas City Metro area. Liberty is one of multiple fast-growing suburbs throughout Northland with a population of approximately 35,000. We’re conveniently located right off Interstate 35 and have seen tremendous growth in residential, commercial and industrial sectors over the past decade.
What is something unique about your bank?
Pony Express Bank is one of the few remaining 100% family-owned financial institutions located in the KC Metro area and we are proud to say that there are currently 4 members of the Page Family working at the bank. Scott Page, CEO and President, started with Pony Express in 1993 when the bank had approximately $12 million in assets. Scott’s brother, Tom Page, CFO and EVP, joined in 1997 when the bank had roughly $50 million in assets and the family purchased the bank in 2003 with about $75 million in assets. Lynsey Page-Waldman, Scott’s daughter joined the bank in 2012 when assets were about $135 million and then Kevin Page, Scott’s son and Lynsey’s brother, started in 2020 when assets were $222 million. Since then, we’ve grown to more than $340 million in assets by continuing to serve the community of Liberty and the greater Northland area.
How did you get started in the banking business?
Kevin – I got my start in banking during high school where I worked at the family bank as a teller on Saturday mornings and during summer vacation. After learning the retail side of the business, I transitioned over to the lending side and assisted with loan review & property inspections. After graduating from Liberty North High School in 2013, I headed south to Texas Christian University where I graduated with a degree in Finance & Accounting. I took a job as a Consulting Analyst in Fort Worth, Texas with a firm called JTaylor & Associates, specializing in Healthcare Mergers & Acquisitions.
Lynsey – I was a teller in high school after school and on the weekends at the family bank. I truly enjoyed the staff and the customers and it was a great job for a high schooler! I left for college at the University of San Diego with a plan to major in Business and no real plan to come back to the banking industry as I thought I wanted to get into the event planning world. After graduation, I took a job at the Hyatt in KC as an event planner but unfortunately the recession hit in 2008 and that job was eliminated.
What prompted you to continue the family tradition & join the Bank?
Kevin – When the pandemic hit in early 2020, I was quickly approaching my three-year anniversary with JTaylor. I began to evaluate how I wanted my career to unfold and started having conversations with my dad, uncle and sister about their succession plan for Pony Express. Having grown up in and around the bank, I knew the culture was excellent and felt confident that my background in Finance & Accounting could be a valuable asset to help ensure our families’ ownership of the bank continues into the next generation. My sister, Lynsey Page-Waldman, and I are proud to represent Pony Express as fifth-generation community bankers and look forward to helping facilitate further development throughout the area we’ve chosen to call home.
Lynsey – After being laid off from my event planning job in 2008, I worked as a finance administrator for a mobile app company called Handmark, and after four years there, realized I wasn’t really ever going to move “up” and began thinking about my future. I was having a conversation with my dad about the bank’s succession plan and things he needed help with at the bank and realized they all sounded like things I’d enjoy doing and that I knew I was good at. He kind of created a new role for me with a lot of different job descriptions which I love because it’s not the same thing every day. Coming back to work for the bank also meant I’d get to help carry on the family name. So, in 2012 I made the switch back to banking and will celebrate my 10-year anniversary this year! Working with my dad, uncle and brother have been really great and surprisingly we haven’t had too many arguments. We all know our strengths and weaknesses and have really worked together to allow the other to shine when/where they need to.
What is the most important thing you’ve learned from this career so far?
Kevin – Never stop learning. Banking has been around since the advent of business, but modern banking requires modern solutions. We’re constantly working to improve our operation and service offering and that requires a commitment to adaptability and continued learning.
Lynsey – Never judge anyone’s situation and always be willing to listen. Money is such a personal matter and sometimes people encounter hard times and just need a little help and someone to give them a chance. I love being a family-owned, community bank because we truly care about our customers and enjoy helping people through both good and bad times. Sometimes just picking up the phone when you see someone is in overdraft can lead you to learn they were sick in the hospital and just need a week or so to get themselves straightened out, etc. A big bank would never take the time to do that and I love that we have those types of relationships with our customers. Those simple (yet important) things we do have paid us back tenfold with our relationships and referrals from current customers. People know at Pony Express you’re a name, not a number and we truly pride ourselves on that.
Tell us about the Bank’s community investment efforts.
Pony Express has actively supported the growth & development of the Liberty Community for nearly three decades now. In addition to our service offerings as a bank, we’re also involved with Liberty schools, Liberty parks, and various charities that work tirelessly to make this community such a fantastic place to call home. Our employees serve on various boards throughout the Northland and lend their time & expertise to making their respective organizations the best that they can be.
What is the Bank’s biggest challenge in the area of Internet banking/mobile banking?
We’ve adopted all aspects of modern banking in an effort to meet the financial needs of our community in the most efficient and secure way possible. With the rising prevalence of malicious actors, particularly online, internet security & awareness has become one of our biggest priorities.
What’s your favorite thing about your bank/banking in general?
Kevin – Helping our customers achieve their goals is easily my favorite part of banking. We have the unique opportunity to become partners with all types of business owners across all types of industries, and I always enjoy learning more about how others have chosen to make their living.
Lynsey – the relationships we’ve fostered through the years! It’s amazing that it’s almost been 20 years since I started as a teller in high school and the same customers are still here and we are now seeing their children and even some grandchildren come into the bank! It’s truly a family bank and being able to help people through good times and bad is so rewarding. We also have a wonderful staff, many of who’ve been here for 20+ years, and they truly are the bread and butter of this bank.
If you didn’t have a career in banking, what other career would you choose?
Kevin – I’ve always loved working with people and think I would have enjoyed a career in financial planning.
Lynsey – I am actually a wedding planner as my “side job” and have been for the last 10 years. I only do three-four a year so I’d probably choose to be an event planner of some sort but after 10 years in banking, I think banker’s hours are definitely more appealing!
