By Drew McKone | American Banker

Just as locally kept businesses differ from national conglomerates, community banks are inherently different from the big banks. We, local businesses, depend on relationships more than volume. We know our customers by name and we make banking and lending decisions down the street from where our customers live and work, not from across the country.

Even in today’s quick-fix world motivated by technology advancements, many bank customers still seek out old-fashioned customer service. Indeed, more than half of consumers prefer to interact with their bank in person, according to a report from TimeTrade. This is great news for community banks, where emphasis on customer service in the branch comes first, including promoting quality over quantity in product offerings.

Read the entire article here