Latest comments for http://www.ababj.com , comment 0 to 6 out of 6 comments http://www.ababj.com Thu, 20 Jun 2013 06:51:16 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.ababj.com/myblog/what-is-your-bank-doing-to-raise-more-revenue-3348.html#pc_1419 Last year, we did an overhaul of our fees and charges. We raised some, but, more important, we initiated an effort to charge for services that we had neglected in the past. And we also reduced fee waivers.   - Frank Campbell, president and CEO, Pilgrim Bank, Cohasset, Mass. Fri, 05 Oct 2012 13:41:17 +0100 http://www.ababj.com/myblog/what-is-your-bank-doing-to-raise-more-revenue-3348.html#pc_1418 On the business side, we established minimum borrowing rates and line fees, and eliminated free checking. On the consumer side, we eliminated several free accounts and ended a years-long tradition of buying customer checks. - Daniel C. Yates, president and CEO, Brattleboro Savings and Loan, Brattleboro, Vt. Fri, 05 Oct 2012 13:25:06 +0100 http://www.ababj.com/myblog/what-is-your-bank-doing-to-raise-more-revenue-3348.html#pc_1417 We replaced free checking with a new checking product called Select 4, which has a monthly service charge that may be lowered in increments or to zero if a customer uses four other services: internet banking ($2 credit); electronic statements ($2); direct deposit ($2); debit card, 10 transactions per statement cycle ($1). Also, we set an interest-rate floor on commercial loans due to the low prime. - Sharon Burran, president and COO, Woodhaven National Bank, Fort Worth, Texas Fri, 05 Oct 2012 13:23:34 +0100 http://www.ababj.com/myblog/what-is-your-bank-doing-to-raise-more-revenue-3348.html#pc_1416 We have refined our pricing approach to differentiate both risk and service. On the risk side, we have recognized that loans with greater risk carry significantly more monitoring and maintenance. Particularly with operating lines secured by receivables and inventory, higher-risk credits contain higher volatility. Our appetite remains strong for operating credit financing, but we recognize the need to price for such volatility. On the service side, we have reviewed all fee and service pricing schedules. We performed a market analysis to determine a cost-basis approach. We found, in many cases, we were charging much less than it cost us to deliver. Accordingly, we raised our earnings credit rate to encourage customers to retain higher deposit balances. We have seen that our average deposit customer carries much higher balances, resulting in stronger efficiencies per customer. - David Rom, president and CEO, Platinum Bank, Saint Paul, Minn. Fri, 05 Oct 2012 13:21:41 +0100 http://www.ababj.com/myblog/what-is-your-bank-doing-to-raise-more-revenue-3348.html#pc_1415 We realized at the onset of the downturn and recession that maintaining margins would be a challenge. So we made the conscious decision that we would concentrate on deposit repricing, as we knew that we would have pressure on loan rates, even those that were locked in for a remaining three to five years. This meant that our growth would slow down, and that deposits would actually decrease a little bit. We aggressively repriced our time deposits, as well as short-term, interest-bearing deposits, slightly below our market competition. We did this on both consumer and commercial deposits. The net result has been that we did have a small growth; but, more important, we were able to maintain our net interest margin, net of loan fees, which since 2007 has ranged from a low of 4.42% to a high of 4.70%, and is currently at 4.63%. This taught, first hand, what we had heard for years: "Bigger is not necessarily better." - George Marx, chairman, president, and CEO, Copiah Bank NA, Hazelhurst, Miss. Fri, 05 Oct 2012 13:20:07 +0100 http://www.ababj.com/myblog/what-is-your-bank-doing-to-raise-more-revenue-3348.html#pc_1414 We've made two major repricing moves. First, we began to charge for online business-banking services. There's no question the service saves customers time and money by managing their accounts online. We have found most have no issue paying the fee once they realize the benefits. Another area we found to improve pricing was in merchant-card processing. Once we began to research vendors, we found a more viable cost-saving option and made a change. We then reviewed each merchant account and determined the fees needed to cover costs and, more important, offer a profitable and beneficial tool. - Stacey Bentley, Cedar Valley market president, Community National Bankn, Waterloo, Iowa Fri, 05 Oct 2012 13:18:17 +0100