Independent Banker - March 2021 - 58

have shared environmental efforts in quarterly
earnings reports, annual shareholder reports
and stories with local media. "
The community bank has also promoted
customer stories and lending metrics, and led
employee sustainability campaigns to push
forward environmental initiatives.
Building an eco-friendly community bank
To connect with eco-savvy retail and business
customers, community banks must not only talk
the talk of environmental progressiveness, but
also walk the walk.
" Banks should start by measuring-and
managing-their own carbon footprint, " says
Naeem Siddiqi, senior advisor for risk research
and quantitative solutions at SAS, a business
analytics software and services provider based in
Cary, N.C.
Siddiqi suggests that community banks
look into adding solar panels to their facilities
to boost energy efficiency. Some states offer
rebate programs, and solar panels tend to pay
for themselves in the long term. Siddiqi also
suggests that banks consider using green energy
providers that offset the energy a customer uses
by putting the same amount in pollution-free,
renewable energy into the electrical grid.
Shel Horowitz, a green marketing strategist
and self-titled " transformpreneur " based in
Hadley, Mass., believes it isn't just internal
efforts that are important, but also marketing
and advertising to customers and other partners.
He says community banks must " make it very
clear that they favor green, locally owned and
controlled businesses, [and] form partnerships
with local vendors and utility companies
that can help their clients [make their own
businesses greener]. "
69%
of North
American
shoppers
willingly
pay a
premium
for recycled
products1
These greener efforts may include, for
example, bulk purchasing that promotes
waste reduction, LED lighting or solar energy
infrastructure. " [Banks] must create greater
awareness of how businesses can be a problem
solver [on green issues], " Horowitz says, " and
how this commitment can create profit centers
for their clients and other businesses. "
Moving away from paper
One easy eco-friendly strategy that many
community banks are already promoting is
asking customers to go paperless by moving
to electronic statements. Accelerated by the
COVID-19 pandemic, this move toward digital
58 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q March 2021
is affecting other processes, from closing on a
home to signing for a loan.
" Going paperless holds huge benefits for
both banks and their customers, including not
using trees and paper mills to produce clean
white paper, " says Jimmie Paradee, product
manager for Paducah, Ky.-based CSI Business
Solutions Group. These efforts lead to less
chemical runoff going back into the ecosystem
and fewer greenhouse gases generated from the
many planes and vehicles needed to ship paper
statements to customers' mailboxes, he adds.
Indeed, Griffin McGahey, president of HC3,
a customer solutions provider in Irondale,
" Eco-friendly choices may
be more expensive today,
but they will help preserve
our planet in the long run. "
-Naeem Siddiqi, SAS
Ala., points out that many financial institutions
are " driving paperless initiatives across the
whole institution. "
Case in point: A 2008 PayItGreen Alliance
survey vetted by the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) found that an American household
could save 6.6 pounds of paper, 63 gallons of
water and 4.5 gallons of fuel per year simply
by choosing to receive paperless statements
and bills. In 2020, National Westminster Bank
in the U.K. went completely paperless, saving
an estimated 450 million sheets of paper and
100 million envelopes annually.
Scott Flowers, the managing director for retail
and small business for Dallas-based Endurance
Advisory Partners, says community banks
should use electronic signature vehicles like
DocuSign while paying " specific attention to
regulatory required wet signatures. "
Aside from the cost-benefit of moving
more document-intensive transactions to be
1. 2020 IBM and the National Retail Federation study
Independent Banker - March 2021

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