This article was previously published in Independent Banker.

How would you describe your relationship with your core provider?

When we spoke to a group of community bankers last year, we often heard, “Well, it’s a love/hate relationship. Our business is running, and we have no complaints, but sometimes we wish we had more to work with.” We also heard, “We actually feel a little trapped in our relationship. We signed a 20-year contract, but our needs are changing and they’re not really able to meet us halfway.”

Having to review a core provider’s contract is like trying to walk through the southern mud. There are pages and pages of messy legalese, and if you don’t have an attorney that is knowledgeable in core technology contracts, you might just sign up for products and services you don’t need or want, and end up paying for more than you bargained for. What community bankers may not realize is that a core provider’s contract shouldn’t be complex or confusing; yet day after day, bankers are left locked into their contracts due to the black holes they couldn’t spot ahead of signing on the dotted line.

This post was previously published as an article in IB Magazine.

When you’re busy running your business, marketing can easily take a backseat. It’s complex, always changing, and can be challenging to find something that works. Fortunately, there is light at the end of tunnel. As long as you know some of the basics, marketing can be simplified so that it’s something you can implement and grow with.

In this article, you’ll learn how to build a simple marketing strategy even if you have limited resources and budget. You may have never invested in marketing or you may have just been too overwhelmed by all the possibilities and unknowns to set a course, but regardless of your position, you can walk away with the foundation to market your bank just by answering a few basic questions.

In order to thrive in today's climate, a community bank must shift its business strategy and advance their core technology. Download our latest ebook on How Core Technology is Changing the Community Banking Environment and learn about the developments and benefits of modern core technology and where to start when your business joins the road to innovation.

This content was previously published in IB magazine.

Many community banks have been operating with their core technology for decades, often for as long as the bank has been established. The bank’s staff are accustomed to working with old technology and a mindset of, “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.” But digging deeper, many bankers are finding that it is, in fact, broken in some way, shape, or form. Legacy core systems become stagnant, costly to maintain, and create a barrier to growth and profitability.

Community bankers must realize that the benefits of a new core outweigh the upfront costs. For community banks to thrive in this time, they must take the leap, let go of their incompatible core, and explore systems that can evolve as their needs change.

If you're like many community bankers, you're stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to the relationship with your existing core provider. Many legacy cores are no longer evolving their suite of products, yet their complex contracts make a bank feel locked in. And as we've observed over the course of the pandemic, many big-box cores are failing to be agile and responsive to your needs. If you're reading this, you may already be thinking that something needs to be different this year. But, how do you know when it's time to change core providers?

In this article, we share what has led community bankers like you to switch to a new core provider. Read what broke the camel's back, see if you can commiserate with our clients, and learn if it's time for you to explore other options. 

IBT Apps recently launched the Banker Protection Program to assist community banks in looking for a core option that aligns with their “new normal.” We have received a few questions over the last few weeks and would like to share these with fellow community bankers looking for more information on the program.

The impact of COVID-19 has caused many of us to rethink how we do business in order to overcome the “new normal’s” ongoing challenges. For a community bank to survive the uneven road ahead, it must ensure that its core technology can adapt to the ever-changing climate.

Continuing with the last question of Assessing Your Core Provider's Service, we take a look at technology costs and we have to ask:

Continuing with question three of Assessing Your Core Provider's Service, we take a look at technology support. Your core provider may support you through the conversion, but do they provide maintenance post-conversion to make sure your system continues to run as it should? And what about your back-office technology? How is it being serviced?