What do you do when you’re the local community bank and you’re competing in your market against large, national banks? You take a deep dive into your relationships, learn from your data, and price with confidence.
That’s what the First State Bank of the Florida Keys, headquartered in Key West, Fla., did when they discovered their margins – which they thought were larger than the competition - were actually right in line with everyone else.
Upon seeing those numbers, First State Bank of the Florida Keys reviewed its pricing practices and began looking for a solution that would help them structure better deals and form deep, lasting client relationships.
After analyzing a range of options, they found what they were looking for in PrecisionLender. The bank wanted “real data to look at,” as Paul Reed, Commercial Lender at First State Bank of the Florida Keys put it. They knew PrecisionLender would not only help them better price their loans, it would also provide them with deep, insightful information about their relationships, as well as guidance on how to better serve their customers.
Much More Than Just Pricing
“Even though we’re a small island, we’ve got a lot of competition down here, especially for the cream of the crop customers, because there’s a lot of them,” says Ani Madruga, Senior Vice President, Market Lending Leader at First State Bank of the Florida Keys. “So, we really have to differentiate ourselves with service, but in today’s rate environment we’ve also had to get very competitive with rates.”
Despite the heavy competition, once First State Bank of the Florida Keys implemented PrecisionLender, they quickly saw results. In one deal for an important client, they were able to approve a loan that was below the typical allowed rate at the bank. Previously the bank would have walked away from a deal like this, but with PrecisionLender’s Relationship Awareness functionality, First State Bank of the Florida Keys had visibility into the entire client portfolio. They could see the impact on the full relationship if they had lost that deal and could see that the overall relationship’s profitability made it more than worth it for the bank to do the deal – and keep the relationship.
“[The client] had strong deposits, so Relationship Awareness played a huge factor in getting the deal approved,” Reed said.
A Smoother Approval Process Navigating Loan Committees
Not only has the First State Bank of Florida Keys been able to save, maintain, and build strong relationships while pricing better deals, their relationship managers also now walk into their Loan Committee meetings ready with relevant data they didn’t possess prior to PrecisionLender.
“PrecisionLender has equipped us with information on a higher level to be able to more confidently sit around the table with the directors,” Madruga said.
That’s created a much smoother, more efficient approval process – which means more deals close more quickly.
More speed, more options, and more insight: It’s a formula First State Bank of the Florida Keys is using to win more deals in their competitive market.
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