Independent Banker - December 2018 - 73

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the need was that 76 percent of people live paycheck-to-paycheck,
and 20 percent of employees have been distracted at
work due to financial stress. "
Morrill & Janes Bank & Trust is a smaller bank in the large
Kansas City market and wanted to create a strategy to become
the bank with the most personal atmosphere. " We got
our start in a small community in northeast Kansas, where
the employees know all of the customers personally, " Wilkerson
says. " We want to create the same atmosphere here-to
get to know our customers and be very involved with them. "
The community bank's initial involvement with financial
education was through the FDIC's " Money Smart " program,
sponsored by the Kansas City Alliance for Economic Inclusion.
" When we got involved with this, I started doing money
management seminars for local not-for-profits, churches and
employees of some of our business clients, " Wilkerson says.
Morrill & Janes then formally introduced At Work seminars,
which provide financial education to employees of the
bank's commercial customers. It followed up with " Lunch
and Learn " seminars, which provide financial education for
individual retail customers, and more so employees of business
clients and other organizations. The current classes
being offered to these groups cover topics like credit scores,
budgeting and cashflow, online and mobile banking, and how
to spot and avoid scams. Wilkerson hired an At Work coordinator,
Shaneé Kimber, to help her with these seminars.
Beyond customers
Working through the Local Investment Commission (LINC),
Morrill & Janes also provides financial education seminars
for Kansas City-area elementary and high school students
and their parents, as well as at homeless shelters and for
youth who are aging out of foster care.
Another partnership is with Credit and Homeownership
Empowerment Services (CHES), a local organization that
helps people manage their finances. " Staff from this organization
are now helping to train our senior personal bankers, so
that they can also help individual customers create budgets
and financial plans, " says Wilkerson.
More recently, Morrill & Janes has been working with a local
radio station, KUAW-FM. The bank will be sponsoring a
segment called " Money Minutes " on the station that will provide
financial information for listeners on a number of topics,
such as how to plan for retirement, the different types of retirement
plans, how to calculate net worth and how a power
of attorney works. " We also plan to do a live call-in show, taking
calls from people in the community who have questions
about banking, " Wilkerson says.
Last but not least, the bank is working with the local Habitat
for Humanity. While some of the bank's employees volunteer
to actually help build homes, Habitat offers another service
with which the bank can help. " Habitat goes in and helps
certain homeowners estimate the costs to repair or purchase
things like roofs, fences, steps, heaters, air conditioners and
" I test out every seminar
on our employees. After
I get their feedback, I do
some tweaking before I
offer it to people outside
of the bank. "
-Lori Wilkerson, Morrill & Janes
Bank & Trust
other needs for their homes, " Wilkerson says. " Our bank
can then put together a secured loan or an unsecured loan
for these people, providing very low interest rates and zero
closing costs. " To qualify for these special loans, customers
must come to the bank through this Habitat program.
Internal education
And what about the bank's own employees? Do they receive
any of the financial education that so many people outside
of the bank benefit from? " Actually, I test out every seminar
on our employees, " says Wilkerson with a laugh. " After I get
their feedback, I do some tweaking before I offer it to people
outside of the bank. "
The future? " We are currently working to create a financial
education program for our small-business customers, " Wilkerson
says.
While Wilkerson hasn't kept tabs on the specific number of
people whom the bank has helped through its seminars and
other programs, she estimates it is about 450. And how do
these efforts help Morrill & Janes? " We believe that financial
education is one way in which we can get our name out to
people and set ourselves apart from other banks, because it is
a unique service that other banks aren't providing, " she says.
In addition, she says, the bank has already received a lot
of positive feedback from its existing customers, as well as
attendees of various seminars who aren't customers-yet.
William Atkinson is a writer in Illinois.
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Independent Banker - December 2018

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