Independent Banker - December 2017 - 59

Commercial lending rises
Like many other community banks
this past year, First Bank of Alabama
has ventured outside of its market to
grab commercial
deals in larger
cities like Birmingham
and
Mobile. Jones
says the bank has
shifted its focus
from consumers
to commercial
lending, increasing
its lending
portfolio from $149 million several
years ago to $217 million in 2017 due to
C&I and CRE loans.
" We started out as a consumer bank
but morphed more into a commercial
bank, realizing that our loans are
going more for commercial deals than
consumer deals, " Jones says, adding
" We tend to stick to doing what we
understand and know. We built our
pipeline for next year to replicate
what we're doing in lending outside
our market to grow our loan portfolio. "
-CHAD JONES, FIRST BANK OF ALABAMA
that the local credit unions are handling
more auto and personal loans.
Next year, he believes community
banks will face increasing
competition from
larger financial
institutions, which
are moving away
from CREs and toward C&Is in
rural markets. While mobile banking
has enabled community banks
to capture customers outside their
markets, he says they typically can't
compete with loan rates offered by
large banks.
" We tend to stick to doing what we
understand and know, " Jones says.
" We built our pipeline for next year
to replicate what we're doing in lending
outside our market to grow our
loan portfolio. "
Carol Patton is a writer in Nevada.
Innovative systems
The digitization of lending is happening across all asset
classes, says David Reiling, CEO of Sunrise Banks, a nearly
$1 billion-asset community bank and national charter that supports
six branches in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minn.
New or upgraded technology is enabling community banks to
make faster, better, easier and cheaper loan decisions. Reiling
points to new systems that help bankers efficiently conduct
periodic quality credit checks on small loans and download
customer data directly from sources, such as tax information
from the IRS.
" We offer a small-dollar loan as an employee benefit
through employers that can be underwritten in less than five
minutes, " Reiling adds. " These systems allow us to capture
valuable data from customers so that we can really refine
[and] define who [are] our best customers, who we want to
market to and target. "
Next year, he anticipates that more consumer lending platforms
will help bankers grab additional market share. He says
retailers will also use such platforms to give consumers more
credit options to buy products they sell.
Still, some community banks tend to be slow adopters of
technology. " The banks that have gotten into the game and
tried it [and] are experimenting and moving forward are going
to excel even faster, " Reiling says. " Those sitting on the sideline
will fall [farther] behind. " -Carol Patton
independentbanker.org
ICBA Independent Banker 55
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Independent Banker - December 2017

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