Independent Banker - February 2019 - 24

PORTFOLIO
six figures in annual income.
Fazio finds that the type of
business these customers are
in drives how they get paid
for services. " Professional fees
generally are paid by check or
ACH, and there is little or no
need for accepting card-based
payments, " he says. " Therefore,
traditional depository banking
services meet their needs. "
And for these home-based,
on-the-go or time-constrained
workers, mobile and internet
banking and payments services
are often a higher priority compared
with the average bank
customer. " Mobile and internet
banking are really key, " Fazio says,
adding that these customers often
prize the ability to " get funds deposited
quickly and easily, without the
requirement to go to the bank. "
Stacey Zengel, vice president of Jack
Henry & Associates and president of
Jack Henry Banking, says that these
QCash Digital
Lending Platform
Enabling Financial Access
Cash management solutions that
deliver short-term, small-dollar and
near small-dollar loans in a consumer
friendly, easy to understand manner.
     ϐ
institution needs to help customers
of modest means borrow, spend,
ǡ    ϐ Ǥ
out-of-the-box gig employees have
been pushing the company and its bank
customers on the digital front. " They
are looking for cash management products,
the ability to capture checks and
other mobile services, " he says.
Borrowing can present a distinct
issue for gig employees. Since their
income may fluctuate based on the season,
their industry and other variables,
Nelson points out that they often do not
qualify for federal home loan programs,
even if their earnings are relatively
high. Glenwood State Bank tackles this
issue by keeping the loans in-house.
" Like many loan applications, we look
at the sustainability of the future earnings
versus worrying about how long
someone has been an employee at a
certain job, " Nelson says.
Fazio concurs. " Many do not understand
the difficulty self-employed
income can cause when seeking a
home mortgage, due to the changes
driven by Dodd-Frank in determining
a person's ability to pay, " he says. In
those instances, Fazio agrees his bank
looks to provide an in-house portfolio
loan, " until we can qualify them for a
fixed-rate secondary market loan. "
Knowledge is power
Perhaps one of the most significant
differences with this emerging and
growing group of customers is their
desire to take charge of their financial
life in the same way they have taken
charge of their work life.
" These clients are searching for good
advice on how to handle their finances, "
Fazio says. " They see a market opportunity
to provide a service without having
to join a company to earn a salary. They
like the idea of defining the terms on
which they can offer the service, controlling
their lifestyle by determining
the hours they work, the client they
choose and how they price it. "
Many of these card-accepting freelance
workers have already come to
Independent Banker - February 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Independent Banker - February 2019
