Chris Nichols

Part of the problem with banking education is that it is incomplete. Banking schools like Stonier and Pacific Coast Banking School are good but they just teach part of the picture. They can talk about how to underwrite a loan or understand risk, but they leave a chasm in understanding about the true risk of underwriting. Outside of banking schools, most loan officers these days are self-taught practitioners in the art of lending and have learned their knowledge through a series of trials by fire.

Over the years we have experimented and collected data on all sorts of different approaches to building a customer base during the holiday season. If you are the sentimental type, this approach likely isn’t for you as this combines sentiment with a heavy dose of quantitative data culled from years of experimenting. The goal here is to not only spread sincere thanks, but build business in the most efficient manner possible.

On this Veteran’s Day our love and support goes out to all those Americans that have sacrificed or are sacrificing in order to protect this great land of ours. While many banks have a military, public service or “Hero Account” (which is what we call it here  at CenterState), more retail banks should. Not only is it a supportive thing to do, but it is also good business.

Many banks wait until the last possible period before renewing a loan. Waiting often invites competition, as other banks with loans out to that customer know exactly when other bank’s loans mature (hopefully you are capturing this information as well). To beat this problem, banks are smart to lock in renewals in advanced in order to minimize competition. Not only is a renewing loan likely a better credit risk (you have a payment history for starters), but banks can garner a larger spread making the risk-adjusted return more profitable.