How Community Banking Helps the Local Economy
Banking is synonymous with economy. So it goes without saying, if you want to improve the local economy, you should turn to local banking. For a local economy to grow, there has to be a focus on hometown banking. Otherwise you are sending your community’s hard-earned capital out to no-name investment portfolios owned by megabanks. Here are some of the ways that your local bankers are boosting the economy of your community, and why you should support them in that mission.
Benefits of Community Banking
A community bank offers a surplus of services that can benefit a local economy. For starters, local banks provide new businesses with the resources owners need to get them up and running. As a small business expands with new facilities and equipment, business owners need credit lines and financial support.
Here again a local bank can step in and give businesses the capital they need for economic development. Every aspect of a business’s economic growth depends on banking, from helping businesses afford their payroll to affording new product lines. Local banks simply provide these services more efficiently.
Personal and Trustworthy Networking
When your banker is also your neighbor, daughter’s soccer coach, or in your Sunday school class, that person is no longer just another financial lender. They are part of your community and someone that you trust with more than just your money. This enables you to feel more at ease when working with your local banker. You know they understand you better than someone who works at a bank in a big city a thousand miles away.
A local banker is also more likely to suggest banking services that they know can benefit you and your family’s financial portfolio. What does this do for the local economy? It encourages healthy growth throughout the community as individuals know they can trust their banker. At the end of the day, a local banker understands that his social credit depends on being able to provide the best outcome for banking customers. This gives a local banker more incentive to support the community through smart banking practices and economical services.
Investments for the Community
Did you know that megabanks use customer money to invest in Wall Street and to place stock market bets? These banks are involved in speculative trading to attempt to grow their own investments. As a customer of a local bank, you can rest assured that your financial success isn’t dependent on speculative trading and stock.
Local banks will readily invest in the local economy. This type of organic financial growth also ensures your community bank is more stable since it is not dependent on the interest rates of Wall Street to make ends meet. At the of the day, a hometown bank is reinvesting in your economy, which creates a healthy financial cycle to promote positive financial growth.
Understanding Local Needs
Along the same lines, a local bank understands the financial situation of the regional economy. These banks are generally managed by bankers, tellers, and loan operators who have grown up in the area. These individuals understand the highs and lows of the local economy, as well as having experienced financial gains and losses right along side their customers.
Local bankers are invested, both financially and physically, in making community banking work. This ensures that these bank employees are more than just employees interested in financial gain. They have the hearts and minds needed to make the best financial decisions possible based on seasoned local experience.
From One Small Business to Another
A local bank is a small business, just like any other small business. If you are a small business owner or you prefer to support local businesses, then your local bank is the best place to start. After all, community banks are the financial supporters of your fellow small businesses.
A local business will also take a risk on another small business, whereas a megabank will focus on profit rather than professional development of your community. At the same time, a community-based bank will use the interest earned off of these business loans to improve their services for customers. This keeps local money within the community and propels the economy from the inside out.
Whether you are an individual in need of a checking account or a small business just opening the doors, you’ll find everything you need financially at your local bank. Support your local businesses by choosing community banking for your financial needs.
Bundlefi is the leading provider of community bank and credit union information. Use our free search to find local checking accounts, high performing savings accounts, and other finanical products from community banks.