Why it Pays to Switch to a Community Bank

Community banks have a finger on the pulse of the local community and are known for their friendly, personal service and dedication to residents of the area . When you walk in the door, you’re much more likely to see a familiar face than you would be upon your arrival at a national bank. But many people mistakenly assume that community banks are somehow less capable than their nationally marketed counterparts. Over the years, community banks have become reliable advisors through trusted relationships and dynamic and customized solutions that can often add up to much more than a national bank’s offerings. Read on to learn about some of the top reasons you should consider doing business with a community bank right here at home.

Community banks are well-equipped and can easily tailor their offerings to each individual resident’s needs. From commercial real estate and equipment loans (to help you acquire important pieces of property or machinery) to sizeable lines of credit (to finance your accounts receivable and inventory expenses) you might be surprised by all the services your community bank offers. Community banks don’t have all the complicated bureaucracy and processes (and subsequent overhead expenses) of national banks, which means a community bank can offer you competitive rates and high lines of credit.

Large, national banking institutions oftentimes take much longer processing paperwork and making approval decisions, which can become a disadvantage when an impending transactional opportunity is time-sensitive. A community bank’s faster decision-making process can make a real difference for business owners—when your loan application doesn’t go through several layers of corporate banking bureaucracy, you’re not waiting around for answers while wondering if you’ll get approved in time to secure that perfect property for your new company headquarters. A community bank understands the urgency and desire for timely decisions and makes being actively engaged in its customers unique needs a top priority in every instance.

Forming a long-term relationship with a community bank means having an advocate when it comes to managing your money and growing your business. Community banks are better about taking the time to get to know you and your business, and can proactively make recommendations that would best improve your business while considering your goals, needs and limitations. Your community bank is looking out for you and looks for ways to support your endeavors. Just like you would with a longtime friend, community banks take a personal interest in seeing you succeed—because a customer’s success is what drives their success.

When the people you’re working with at your bank of choice live, work and play in the same community you do, they are likely to know a lot more about the unique conditions surrounding your business and banking needs than someone without a personal connection to the local market. That means community banks can offer valuable advice on the right time to make an acquisition or be aggressive in expansion—or possibly when to bide your time when it comes to making a major transaction. With this detailed knowledge of the area, community bankers are able to nimbly and easily make adjustments as you need.

It’s common for bigger banks to make small- to mid-sized businesses feel like they’re an afterthought, rather than a valued customer. But at a community bank, you’ll always feel like a top priority. When you’ve built a long-term relationship with a community banker, they’ve been with you through every step of the way as you’ve grown your business from an initial idea into a thriving organization. And they are proud to have you as a customer.

Ready to experience the community banking difference for yourself? Visit altabank.com to learn more about what we can do for your business. Member FDIC.