Independent Banker - January 2022 - 41

Adding business lines
While most community bank executives (68.1%) plan
to focus on leveraging existing business to increase
income in 2022, nearly one in five (19.4%) hope to
boost earnings by adding new lines of business. In
" When I talk to other CEOs
across the country, they
tell me the same thing:
PPP borrowers who were
first rejected by their
larger bank decided to
stop being customers
there and brought over
their entire relationship to
the community bank that
gave them a PPP loan. "
-Janet Silveria,
Community Bank of Santa Maria
fact, 16.5% of respondents say it will be their greatest opportunity.
Some of the lines that community banks plan to add include fraud
and ID theft protection services, treasury management solutions,
wealth management, property and casualty insurance, credit cards
and specialized loan products.
Badger Bank in Fort Atkinson, Wis., will continue to work with
fintechs, says president and CEO Steve Dehnert. The bank increases
its loan balances by partnering with fintech loan producing
companies on a national scale, and this year it will switch its
insurance operations to digital as the bank's onsite agent retires,
adding more policy types, including travel insurance.
Ponce Bank in Bronx, N.Y., hopes to add several business
services in the future, possibly including wealth management, cash
management, life insurance, products that have guaranteed returns
and products that have tax advantages, says president and CEO
Carlos P. Naudon. However, before it launches any new products
or services, Ponce Bank first needs to educate people within its
underserved communities on how these offerings could help them
build their wealth. Naudon likes to call such educational programs
" financial mastery. "
" We can't really launch them until we see distinct demand, or else
we'll [be unsuccessful], " he says. " We need to get the critical mass.
That's why it's very important to educate people on these types of
products first, so they'll be more comfortable using them. "
economic uncertainty has caused
many borrowers to be cautious in
their growth plans. "
Fortunately for Red River Bank,
loan demand is picking up in
Louisiana as cities stabilize from the
pandemic and businesses reopen.
However, continued supply chain
issues might still hamper business
customers' growth for a time,
Chatelain says.
Janet Silveria, president and CEO
of $402 million-asset Community
Bank of Santa Maria in Santa Maria,
Calif., says loan growth is needed
because community banks like hers
are sitting on quite a bit of liquidity,
in part because Paycheck Protection
2.5%
ESG (environmental,
social and governance)
35.0%
What will
be your
community
bank's greatest
business
opportunity
in 2022?
Investing in
digitization
16.5%
New line of
business
11.0%
Fintech
partnership
3.8%
Expanding into a
new market
4.1%
Growing lending
9.3%
Wealth
management/
financial planning
independentbanker.org Q 41
3.8%
4.1%
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Independent Banker - January 2022

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