Illinois Banker Magazine | May - June 2023

OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Betsy Johnson Chair Solutions Bank, Forreston

Thomas Chamberlain Chair-Elect

Iroquois Federal Savings & Loan Association, Watseka

Anthony Nestler Vice Chair

Hickory Point Bank and Trust Co., Decatur

T.J. Burge Treasurer Community Partners Savings Bank, Salem

Megan Collins Member-at-Large Bank of America, Chicago

Frank Pettaway

Member-at-Large

The Northern Trust Company, Chicago

Michelle Gross Immediate Past Chair State Bank of Bement

REGION 1

Rudy Gonzalez CIBC Bank USA Chicago

Frank Pettaway The Northern Trust Company Chicago

REGION 2

Peter Brummel Grundy Bank Morris

Courtney Olson First Bank Chicago Highland Park

REGION 3

Lawrence Horvath Heartland Bank & Trust Company

Bloomington

Tyler Rouse First Federal Savings Bank of Champaign-Urbana

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

REGION 4

Scott Bland First Neighbor Bank N.A. Toledo

Brett Tiemann INB, National Association Springfield

REGION 5

Rick Parks First National Bank of Waterloo

Bethany Shaw Peoples National Bank Mt. Vernon

FUTURE LEADERS ALLIANCE BOARD

CHAIR

(non-voting member)

Kara Austin Murphy-Wall State Bank and Trust Company

Pinckneyville

MEMBERS-ATLARGE

Gustavus Bahr PNC Bank, N.A. Chicago

Dane Cleven Community Savings Bank Chicago

Megan Collins Bank of America Chicago

Jim Hannon First Security Trust & Savings Bank Elmwood Park

Karlie Krehbiel Lisle Savings Bank

Richard Mahoney First Midwest Bank

Moline

Michele Petrie Village Bank & Trust, N.A. Arlington Heights

Amy Randolph Busey Bank Champaign

Steven Rosenbaum

Hoyne Savings Bank

Chicago

Matthew Smith First Mid Bank & Trust, N.A. Mattoon

Dan Wujek State Bank of Cherry

ILLINOIS BANKERS ASSOCIATION STAFF DIRECTORY

Two Offices to Serve You! Springfield Office: 800-783-2265 • Chicago Office: 800-878-2265

To connect with our staff, use this email format: firstinitiallastname@illinois.bank

Executive Administration

Randy Hultgren, President & CEO

Erich Bloxdorf, Executive Vice President & COO

Mindy Manci, Executive Assistant & HR Manager

Pam Macha, Springfield Office Coordinator

Finance and Administration

Mark Bennett, CPA, Executive Vice President and CFO

Marcia Stratton, CPA, Director

Marie South, Financial Assistant

Law Department

Carolyn Settanni, Executive Vice President & General Counsel

Carly Berard, Associate General Counsel

Michael Schasane, Compliance Counsel

Nick Sladek, Administrative Assistant

Government Relations

Ben Jackson, Executive Vice President

Aimee Smith, Assistant Vice President

Matt Imburgia, Director

Marketing and Member Relations

Julie Winterbauer,

Senior Vice President

Tammy Squires, Vice President, Data & Digital Marketing

Robin Lane, Director, Associate Membership

Tim Robinson, Director, Bank Relations

Linda Koch, CAE, Manager, Member/Business Relations

Sarah Cowan, Membership Assistant

Illinois Bankers Business & Education Services, Inc.

Callan Stapleton, CAE, EVP & President of Business and Education Services

Adam Walsh, Vice President, Insurance Services

Lyndee Fein, Director, Education & Conferences

Rachel Selvaggio, Director, Forums & Future Leaders Alliance

Denise Perez, Director, Education & Training

Debbie Jemison, CAE, Director, Financial Literacy

Maddison Augustine, Manager, Marketing & Digital Communications

Amy Sale, Education Assistant

Illinois Bankers Group Insurance Trust

Erich Bloxdorf, Plan Administrator

Mike Mahorney, Senior Trust Advisor

Hillary Meyers, Trust Manager

Editorial Office 3201 West White Oaks Drive Ste. 400 Springfield, IL 62704 217-789-9340 www.illinois.bank

Randy Hultgren Secretary Illinois Bankers Association

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Randy Hultgren IBA President & CEO

Chair, Illinois Bankers Association

As June approaches, so does the end of my term as IBA Chair. I have greatly enjoyed serving this year. While traveling throughout the state of Illinois, I am proud of the diversity within our state from landscapes, communities, various types of business, industry, and, of course, our banks and bankers.

Since last June, I have had a close-up view of the efforts made by the IBA to provide you with educational programs and services that are timely and relevant. I am always impressed with the quality of the IBA events, most recently Economic Impact Day and The ONE Conference. The efforts of the Government Relations and Legal teams to guide policy and regulation is outstanding. The discussions, quality of information, and opportunity to interact with our Future Leaders Alliance students were a wonderful way to cap my term. Quite frankly, I have gained even

more appreciation for the contributions made by all IBA staff.

The 2023 Annual Convention in June is a great opportunity you will not want to miss. Collaboration of a united message from our industry is always important and your voice will be needed in the coming months and years. I invite all of you to join other bankers and industry leaders to share your viewpoints and take the opportunity to collaborate while having some fun along the way. The IBA, along with the Ohio Bankers League, has worked on a great lineup for this year’s Annual Convention.

Finally, I am excited to introduce Tom Chamberlain, Sr. Executive Vice President, Iroquois Federal, as your 2023-2024 Incoming IBA Chair. I know he will be outstanding in representing bankers and the IBA. Please help me welcome Tom in June – see you in Chicago!

President & CEO, Illinois Bankers Association

Take it to the bank!

2023 has been a challenging year for banks, but I am proud to proclaim that Illinois banks are strong and remain committed and prepared to serve their communities with excellence and safety. Illinois and America boast a powerful, diverse banking industry that is the envy of the world. Good banking policy doesn’t happen by accident. Every banker has an obligation to use your influence to give guidance and direction to elected officials as they seek understanding of what happened and how the government should respond. Your Association is working diligently to share the story of your strength.

Illinois banks are strong because Illinois bankers are strong. Your Association

benefits greatly from the leadership of fantastic bankers. IBA Chair Betsy Johnson has done a wonderful job leading the Illinois Bankers Association during this past year, meeting with hundreds of bankers, sharing her best practice ideas, and being a compelling voice for our vital industry. Betsy has done a great job focusing the IBA team on full implementation of our strategic plan and assisting us to break records of engagement and usage by banks of offerings of the IBA.

Betsy, thank you for all you have done for the IBA and for Illinois bankers over the last 12 months! Your vision, wisdom, and leadership have made us better as we exuberantly serve every banker in Illinois. You exemplify a strong Illinois banker who loves serving customers and communities!

Betsy Johnson President & CEO Solutions Bank, Forreston

QUESTION

Can our loan officers notarize borrowers’ signatures on mortgages and deeds of trust? Our bank heard that a law was passed in Illinois prohibiting this, but we do not know if it has become effective.

ANSWER

No, as of this printing, loan officers are not currently prohibited from notarizing borrowers’ signatures on mortgages and deeds of trust in Illinois. However, upcoming amendments to the Illinois Notary Public Act likely will limit this practice once the amendments go into effect.

A law enacted in 2021 substantially rewrote the Illinois Notary Public Act, including a new provision that prohibits notaries public from explaining, certifying, or verifying the contents of any documents they are notarizing.

QUESTION

The law will take effect when the Illinois Secretary of State adopts implementing regulations, which it has proposed but not yet adopted. When this 2021 law goes into effect, a loan officer may be prohibited from notarizing mortgages and deeds of trust if they also are in the position of explaining the contents of the documents to the borrower.

A business customer sent a wire to another bank to pay one of its vendors, but the vendor says it never received the money. The wire was sent to an account with the same account number as the account that received the payment, but the names associated with these two accounts were different. The wire beneficiary’s bank immediately closed the account for fraud but has denied our request for reimbursement. Are we entitled to be reimbursed by the beneficiary’s bank?

ANSWER

No, we do not believe you have the right to be reimbursed by the beneficiary’s bank for the wired funds.

Article 4A of the Illinois Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) provides that the bank for a beneficiary of a wire transfer may rely on an account number to identify the beneficiary “if a payment order received by the beneficiary’s bank identifies the beneficiary both by name and . . . bank account number and the name and number identify different persons” and “the beneficiary’s bank does not know that the name and number refer to different persons.” The UCC Official Comments provide that “know,” as used in this section, means “actual knowledge”

that the name and number refer to different persons. Consequently, unless you can prove that the beneficiary’s bank had actual knowledge that the name and account number referred to different persons, it will not be required to reimburse you.

Additionally, your customer may be responsible for the inconsistency between the account number and name provided in their wire instructions if they had notice that the wire transfer might be paid by the beneficiary’s bank on the basis of the account number. You can prove that your bank provided the customer with proper notice if they signed a written statement providing such information.

QUESTION

A business wants to open a checking account with our bank. A few years ago, we denied their request for an account based on several negative ChexSystem reports. We no longer subscribe to ChexSystems and cannot run a similar check. Can we refuse to open this account, and do we have to provide an adverse action notice with our reasons or documentation?

ANSWER

No, we do not believe that you need to provide an adverse action notice when denying a business’s request for a checking account. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)’s requirement to provide adverse action notices applies only to persons taking adverse action against consumers. Consequently, we believe you may refuse to open the checking account without providing reasons or documentation.

QUESTION

Note that adverse action notices must be provided under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) when a creditor takes adverse action against a credit applicant, regardless of whether the applicant is a consumer or a business. However, this requirement would not apply to a request for a business checking account lacking any credit features.

What kind of notice are we required to give customers if we alter one of our branch’s hours?

ANSWER

We are not aware of any Illinois or federal law that requires you to notify customers when altering branch hours. However, we recommend checking your account agreements to ensure they do not include relevant notification requirements. We also recommend posting advance notice of the changed hours in the lobby of any affected branch and on your website as a courtesy to your customers, as well as notifying your primary regulator. You also should update relevant advertising, listings, and other information to reflect the new hours (as well as any disclosures and account agreements that reflect the previous hours).

About the IBA Law Department

Additionally, we note that a change in hours can in some instances raise issues under the federal Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). One factor in a large bank’s CRA service performance rating is whether its services, “including, where appropriate, business hours,” vary in a way that inconveniences customers in the bank’s assessment area. Consequently, it would be prudent to document your reasons for changing a branch’s hours, although you are not required to do so.

Our IBA Law Department provides many resources to help our bank members meet their compliance challenges, including a toll-free Compliance Hotline (1-800-GO-TO-IBA) and a dedicated compliance website (www.GoToIBA. com). We also publish a free weekly e-newsletter highlighting the latest regulatory developments, select recent Q&As, and other useful information – let us know if you want to subscribe!

Note: This information does not constitute legal advice. You should consult bank counsel for legal advice, even if the facts are similar to those discussed above.

Full Name: Thomas "Tom"

Chamberlain

Title: Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer

Bank Name: Iroquois Federal Savings & Loan Association

Family: Wife - Beth, Son - Matt and his wife Kara, DaughterMegan

High School & College Name: Newman Central Catholic High School; Bachelor's from University of Illinois; MBA from Eastern Illinois University; ABA Graduate School of Banking and Wharton Leadership Certificate, University of Pennsylvania

Tell us about your banking career journey: My banking journey started in January 1986 as a farm manager and rural appraiser for First National Bank Mattoon, now known as First Mid Bank & Trust. In 1993, I moved to the company’s

Tuscola office where I started my lending career, eventually becoming the Tuscola Community President. First Mid then asked me to open their Champaign operation, where I again served as the Community President for Champaign/Urbana until I left and joined my current bank. In July of 2004, I joined Iroquois Federal Savings & Loan Association to run the Danville office and oversee growth in commercial lending serving as the Danville

Community President. In 2010, I was promoted to Chief Lending Officer. I now serve as Senior Executive Vice President & CLO managing the lending activities of our eight offices.

If given the opportunity, what would you tell your younger self?: I am not one that spends much time thinking about the past, other than to reflect each evening on what I could have done better today and what I can change going forward. Mistakes happen, but they are only bad if you do not learn from them. You cannot change the past but you can change yourself to be better tomorrow. The advice I give to those starting today in banking remains constant: Banking can be either a job or a career, so do what you can to make it a career. A career is so much more rewarding and fun! Banking is a wonderful career and one that you get out of it what you put into it. However, if you want to be successful you need to be willing to learn new things every day, with the understanding that learning doesn’t stop the day you leave school. Continuing education is a must for your entire career. Always ask the question, “Why?” Dig in and get to know the why in

everything. Be willing to do what the company needs, not necessarily what you are comfortable with that day. And that includes being willing to move if that’s what is required. It wasn’t easy for my family or me to move from Mattoon to Tuscola to Champaign to Danville as I had great friends and co-workers in every town, but as I sit here today, I know I wouldn’t be where I am in my career without that willingness to do what was asked. It has made me a better person, and certainly helped improve my ability to adapt to change. And finally, change happens…embrace it and be willing to adjust.

List a fun fact about you: I am very proud that I was raised by loving parents on a tenant dairy farm in Dixon, Illinois with my two brothers and ten sisters. We didn’t have much as we grew up, but we had each other. And that daily grind on the dairy farm taught us that you never get a day off, work ethic matters, and you

fun fact: I was the Lee County 4-H Fair King. You still see fair queens today, but no longer see fair kings. Thank goodness it wasn’t based on a pageant back in my day, just a vote. I don’t look good in swimsuits or formal wear and have no talent I would ever want to share on a stage.

What is on your bucket list?: My wife and I love to travel. When you grow up on a dairy farm the longest you can get away is 2 hours, because you milk 365 days per year at 6 am and 6 pm. I also love to play different golf courses. My bucket list includes playing golf in Scotland and Ireland, but the #1 bucket list item I will probably never have a chance to do is to play Augusta National. It is the prettiest golf course I have ever been on and would be a dream place to tee it up!

Your favorite book, podcast or author: I must admit I am not a big book reader. While I read many daily publications and emails all day long, when I get home I just prefer to wind down watching local news and then some sports. However, I have always read books that have been given to me by customers and friends. One in particular that I really enjoyed and took to heart was "Living Forward" by Michael Hyatt. Being a planner in the things that I do, this book helped me in my overall life plan and was a big help as we learned to deal with Covid.

fire hoses. At that time, I was hopeful that things would finally settle down, so we could just get back to banking and some of the items we may have been neglecting, such as just taking a breath. Then two

get only what you work for as nothing is given. While I am happy to have been able to provide my own family with a little easier life growing up, I would not trade my past as it is what pushed me to be the person I am today. As for a really odd

What is a goal you would like to achieve during your Chair year?: Randy Hultgren asked me this question a few months back, and I responded at the time that I just want us to get back to banking. In the past few years, we have been through a lot. A once in a lifetime pandemic, extreme interest rate volatility, an ever changing workforce and never ending changes that have us all feeling like we are drinking from

banks, that were in many ways outliers, failed and our banking world was forced to respond. Once again change happened and we adjusted. So, as we look forward to the next twelve months, we are going to continue to have our challenges, but to achieve success I believe we have to get down to the fundamentals of banking and remember our blocking and tackling. We have always been in the risk management business and not the risk avoidance business. Keep your eye on the basics and the management of the risks within your control. Anticipate the potential risks that may come to us in the future and be ready to adapt to them as they come.

What challenges do you forecast for banking in the next five and ten years?: It has become very apparent in my banking career that the only thing you can forecast is there will

be change and it will come faster than you anticipate. It becomes a challenge when you fight it and don’t try to adapt. In the next five to ten years, I see a few main challenges for bankers, and both will unfortunately drive consolidation, which is a trend we may not like but it is a consistent trend we are witnessing.

First, we have to anticipate additional regulatory and compliance challenges. It has been this way forever in banking and there will always

and let someone else worry about it.

be something to adjust. Congress will always be looking for ways to, in their minds, help consumers. Unfortunately, this often means their well-intentioned ideas don’t think about the unintended consequences. It is a battle we fight every day and one reason IBA needs all of our support. The IBA works tirelessly on our behalf, advocating for both banks and our customers in a very balanced way. But I have talked with too many bankers in my career who worked for smaller banks that just got tired of the compliance issues and decided it was best to sell

Second is the aging of our bank leaders. Too many banks are realizing that they have neglected to adequately train their next leaders. Succession planning in every bank is a must if you intend to stay independent. The situation we find in our industry is that too many banks are short of middle managers who have been trained to step up to our top roles. If that is your shop, I challenge you today to be proactive and don’t wait. If you have a hole in your succession plan, stop and look in the mirror…who created it and what are you going to do about it? I believe now is the time to look to our younger and newer bankers, and to get them training today to take over our jobs tomorrow. Ben Franklin said it in 1790 and it stands correct today, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” So, teach, mentor and support all your banking staff as best as you can, and, if you need training assistance, remember that the IBA is here to help.

Finally, technology is so vital to us, and we are being challenged every day to stay on top of it. Having IT staff that is on top of this everchanging medium is a must. We must always invest in the technology that we have and remain “cyber vigilant” to keep us and our customer’s data safe.

Get to Know

Tom Chamberlain!

Beach City

Steak Chicken

Football Baseball

Night Owl Early Bird

Vacation Staycation

Sports Car Truck

Rock-n-Roll Country

I'm the Chef Let's Make a Reservation

Winter Spring Summer Fall Coffee Tea

" Banking can be either a job or a career, so do what you can to make it a career. A career is so much more rewarding and fun! "

Illinois community banks lag behind national peers in key financial metrics

by Rica Dela Cruz and Syed Muhammad Ghaznav, Market Intelligence

Illinois community banks trailed their national peers in certain financial metrics during 2022.

Community banks in the Prairie State recorded a median return on average assets (ROAA) of 0.88% and a median net interest margin (NIM) of 3.05% for the year ended Dec. 31, 2022. By contrast, national community banks' median ROAA was 1.02% and median NIM was 3.31%, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis.

The median efficiency ratio of Illinois community banks was 66.68%, compared to the Midwest median of 65.25% and the national median of 64.79%. The Illinois community bank median cost

of funds of 0.39% was lower than the Midwest median of 0.40% but higher than the national median of 0.38%.

On a year-over-year basis, Illinois community banks booked a 1.2% increase in deposits and 9.8% growth in loans. Comparatively, the national median deposit growth was 2.7% and loan growth was 11.1%.

In 2022, M&A activity in the Illinois banking sector returned to pre-pandemic levels with 20 wholecompany bank and thrift deals.

Regional median trends at US community banks, 2022

Largest Illinois community bank performance

Midland States Bank, the largest community bank in Illinois by total assets, outperformed the ROAA, NIM and efficiency ratio medians in Illinois, Midwest and the US, at 1.36%, 3.67% and 50.29%, respectively. The bank's cost of funds, however, was higher at 0.68%.

In 2022, the Midland States Bancorp Inc. subsidiary grew its total assets by 5.53% year over year to $7.85 billion, total loans and leases by 19.99% to $6.31 billion and total deposits by 3.56% to $6.37 billion.

Byline Bank, the second-largest Illinois community bank, recorded an ROAA of 1.34%, an efficiency ratio of 52.58% and cost of funds of 0.48%. Its NIM was 4.11%, the highest among the 20 largest Illinois community banks.

Compared to the previous year, Byline Bank's total assets in 2022 increased by 9.90% to $7.35 billion, total loans by 18.85% to $5.47 billion and total deposits by 9.74% to $5.72 billion.

Among all of the community banks in Illinois, First Bank and Trust Co. of Illinois' ROAA was among the highest at 2.57%, while Longview Community Bank's NIM was the highest at 6.74%.

Largest Illinois community banks, 2022

Ranked by total assets

Your best defense against a cyberthreat? A vigilant employee.

by Neal Reynolds

We all know that every company in every industry faces the prospect of a cyberattack that poses a threat to their data security. And we all know that the likelihood of an attack — ever more sophisticated attacks, too — is growing every day. Banks, of course, are high value targets for cybercriminals; one, they gather and manage tremendous amounts of customer personal data and two, in the event of a ransomware attack, banks have the wherewithal to meet a cybercriminal’s ransom demands.

The epic problem that cybercrime poses to banks, and their customers, couldn’t have been made more clear than by an article I read (and you probably did, too) just a week or so ago in American Banker The article reported on the 10 biggest financial data breaches of 2022. This year, apparently (and frighteningly) the number of consumer records leaked in breaches globally exceeded 254 million, 9.5 million of which were reported by U.S.-based financial institutions. Flagstar Bank is one institution that made the list and is now facing multiple class actions lawsuits as a result of more than 1.5 million customers’ names and social security numbers being exposed.

The bank is, in response, “offering complimentary credit monitoring services.” I remember receiving a similar offer when an institution with which I’d been doing business notified me that some of my PII (Personally Identifiable Information) had been exposed in a security breach. I can’t say I was very

pleased when I was told that I now qualified for one year (imagine that, a whole year!) of free credit reporting so that, and I’m paraphrasing here, “I could check on my credit report regularly in order to spot any “irregularities.” Needless to say, I have bid a not-so-fond farewell to that provider, never to return again.

I know that protecting people’s personal information is hard. But, let’s face it, there are lots of steps that organizations that handle PII can do to make sure that it stays secure. Some are even fairly easy and inexpensive to take.

For one, be careful about email. Why? Because most banking data breaches can be attributed to an email or “social engineering” attack that involves ransomware or malware. In a social engineering attack, the hacker uses email to “phish” for information from employees by fooling them into providing proprietary information such as network login credentials. They do this by creating emails that look official, replicating the exact format of the emails that employees regularly send and receive. Often the email will come from (or seem to, anyway) an individual within the company with some authority, lending even more credibility to it.

There’s a reason why phishing and social engineering are as prevalent as they are — they work. Whether it is the use of stolen credentials, phishing, misuse, or simply an error, people continue to play a very large role in incidents and breaches alike. In

fact, the World Economic Forum Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2022 points out that a staggering 95% of data breaches are due to human error. What can banks do — at least as a relatively easy step — that can prevent the kind of cyberattack that leads to significant penalties, customer loss, and brand damage? For starters, educate your employees, create and maintain a culture built around security, and lastly, put into place the processes that can help eliminate the likelihood of human error.

Of course, external bad actors and human error aren’t the only factors that contribute to data security risks. The infrastructure of today’s bank hinges upon a hybrid workforce across various locations, as well as cloud solutions such as DropBox® and OneDrive™. These quick-and-easy-to-implement solutions were largely put into place during the pandemic and were intended to help a virtual workforce communicate, organize, and stay productive — which they did. The unintended consequence, however, is that these individual locations, devices, and applications have exposed the bank’s data to even greater security and compliance risks by creating a multitude of “endpoints.” Each virtual office location and user constitutes an endpoint, with each endpoint serving as a “doorway” through which employees access corporate data. Unfortunately, these endpoints also serve as doorways through which cybercriminals can enter the institution’s network and steal customer data. For this reason, employees must be judicious in their use of unsecured applications or personal devices that fall outside the purview of the organization’s IT department.

As cyberattacks grow in volume and complexity, banks must give serious consideration to the new breed of cybersecurity technologies available to them, such as those powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). AI and ML are now, for many institutions, playing an increasingly critical role in securing data by facilitating the detection, protection, and response time to a cyberthreat. The reason is simple: AI technologies can either augment or supplant the

“human touch” that can often be the cause of a data breach. For example, say your entire team is logging into the network for some type of online event or session. Sessions like these can be “hijacked” by a cybercriminal using stolen credentials. Not with AI, however. By supplementing the human verification process with AI-powered behavioral biometrics, each network user’s level of risk can be more accurately, and efficiently, assessed, and if needed, additional verification steps can be taken to secure the session. AI is beneficial in other ways as well. In the event of a successful attack, for instance, AI-powered solutions can significantly reduce identification and containment times, both of which cause costly downtime.

There is no doubt that cybercrime is with us for the long term. Securing data must be a priority for banks, and it can start very simply… with culture and training. Since the vast majority of data breaches can be attributed to human error, keeping your employees vigilant could save you from high-ticket fines, lost customers, and irreparable damage to your reputation

About the Author:

Neal Reynolds is President of BankMarketingCenter.com

About Bank Marketing Center

Here at BankMarketingCenter.com, our goal is to help you with that topical, compelling communication with customers; the messaging — developed by banking industry marketing professionals, well trained in the thinking behind effective marketing communication — that will help you build trust, relationships, and revenue. In short, build your brand.

To view our marketing creative, both print and digital – ranging from product and brand ads to social media and in branch signage – visit bankmarketingcenter.com. You can also contact me directly by phone at 678-528-6688 or via email at nreynolds@bankmarketingcenter.com. As always, I welcome your thoughts on the subject.

by Jeni Wehrmeyer, COO/CMO of Anthony Cole Training Group

Selling is a “slight edge business.” By that, we mean that the line that separates high performers from mediocre performers is usually a very small difference.

There is very little you can control in selling. You can’t make prospects take your call. You can’t make prospects agree to meet with you. You can’t make them move forward in your sales process and you certainly can’t make them buy from you. However, there are a multitude of things you can control and mastery of these 10 tips will give you greater confidence in sales.

Build

1

Identify and Create a Sales Process

First and foremost, you’ll need a repeatable sales process that you and your sales team can implement. Based in the #1 sales evaluation, “elite” bankers utilize

a consistent, stage-based selling system. Having a sales process keeps salespeople in tune with the stages a buyer goes through on the path to a decision and will help to remove any inefficiencies from the sales cycle. Just by implementing a defined sales process alone, relationship managers can see better results in a short period of time.

Practice and Improve Your Sales Approach

Much like your sales process, lenders need to hone, craft, and practice their perfect sales approach or pitch. You can start creating a better sales pitch by doing more research on your prospects, always put yourself in their shoes and ask through their lens “what’s in it for me (the prospect)?”. As a trusted banker, you must invoke confidence. You can do this by practicing and perfecting your approach. We call this your Unique Selling Approach (USA) and when you share it, your prospect should react with “That’s me” or “How do you do that?” Practice this so that your USA is natural and conversational to build your confidence in selling.

2 3

Follow Up on Open Deals

A good banker follows up on open deals. It’s great to get the word out, but as a salesperson, you will have more success if you follow up on your existing prospects. It’s estimated that nearly half of salespeople never follow up on a prospect, and only 10% follow up three times or more. In fact, it’s estimated that 80% of all closed deals occur between the 5th and 12th outreach.

Following up also shows the prospect that you’re organized and considerate enough to reach out again. Most people will appreciate your follow up, and just by reminding them of your previous conversation, you can be more top-ofmind amongst your prospects, and build credibility.

Be a Great Listener

Having an open dialogue is critical in nurturing your prospects and giving them a voice. Make sure you’re really listening to what they’re saying as it can help you build stronger relationships. By listening to better understand your prospects, you can better identify what your prospect wants, how they want it, and why. Listening to understand takes concentration and the ability to not get distracted by what you can offer as a solution. Only by understanding what your prospect wants and needs from you, will you build confidence in sales that will allow you to better align your sales approach to meet and exceed their expectations.

Embrace Rejection

In sales, you will always be met with rejection. Accepting this fact, and learning from your no’s is key in becoming a better salesperson. A better way of dealing with rejection is by better uncovering why the prospect did not buy from you. This will help you build confidence and improve your sales process with better prospect information.

Elite bankers are quick to get back on track and have robust sales pipelines. Rejection in sales is just part of the job that helps them move on to the next opportunity.

Learn from a Mentor

Learning from a mentor is one of the best ways to build confidence in sales and become a better lender or relationship manager. Having someone who can show you the ropes and provide constructive feedback, can drastically improve your sales abilities. It has been proven that those who set specific goals and share those goals with a caring mentor are more effective at reaching their goals.

Review Your Strengths and Weaknesses

All great bankers take time to evaluate their strengths and their weaknesses and focus on leveraging their strengths, while working on strengthening their weaknesses. Purposely identifying areas where you seem to excel in prospecting, communicating with prospects, or closing deals, can help you increase more of those desired actions. Sales evaluations can provide lenders insight in areas they may not recognize, to help build confidence in your selling approach. And by identifying your weaknesses, you can improve upon your weakness or work around it. Successful and confident bankers are continual learners that intentionally gather information about their own strengths and weaknesses.

Identify What Motivates You

We all have motives behind everything that we do. Identifying what motivates you can be one of the best things you can do to become better at finding and building relationships. Are you motivated to become a better version of yourself? Do you seek praise and want your work to be recognized? Are you trying to achieve the lifestyle of your dreams? By recognizing what motivates you, you can start to put into play an action plan that gets you to your goals. This can be all the motivation to become a better banker and close more business.

Be Able to Walk Away

Earlier we mentioned the importance of following up. But it’s also important to know when to fold the cards and walk away. If you’re reaching into double-digit attempts in outreach to a prospect, or they have seemed very standoffish, it might be in your best interest to recognize the situation and focus elsewhere. This can be hard to do if your sales pipeline is weak, but you must be able to let go of a prospect and move on to your next opportunity. If a prospect is not returning your emails or phone calls, your time is better spent on new leads.

Prioritize Your Wellbeing

You have to prioritize your work/life balance and mental health. You’re no good to your bank or your prospect’s time if you have too much going on, are burnt out, and distracted. The world of sales can seem like it’s always moving and moving quickly, which can be stressful. Taking frequent breaks, getting fresh air, taking time off, and prioritizing a personal life can help counter balance the stress of your job and prevent burnout. In order to be relaxed and confident in selling, you must be healthy of mind and body!

In Summary

Finding and building relationships is not going to suddenly become easier. Leads are not likely to become more plentiful. So, the question that is worth asking is this: What will you do to create your slight edge in selling? What are the little things that when done week in and week out will amount to great progress in terms of your success? Try out one or all of these 10 tips for building confidence in selling and let us know how they work for you. 8

Learn more at anthonycoletraining.com

D A T A - D R I V E N E N E R G Y

M A N A G E M E N T S O L U T I O N S

O u r t e a m o f e x p e r t s w i l l a s s e s s y o u r f a c i l i t i e s ' e n e r g y n e e d s , b u i l d a c u s t o m , c l i e n t - s p e c i f i c e l e c t r i c i t y o r n a t u r a l g a s p r o c u r e m e n t s t r a t e g y , a n d t a k e t h e b u r d e n o f e n e r g y m a n a g e m e n t o f f y o u r p l a t e .

O u r s t r o n g r e l a t i o n s h i p s w i t h o u r c a r e f u l l y v e t t e d p o o l o f s u p p l i e r s g i v e s u s t h e p o w e r t o d e l i v e r d a t ad r i v e n s o l u t i o n s f o r t r u e a p p l e s - t oa p p l e s p r i c e c o m p a r i s o n s

W e p a r t n e r w i t h i n d u s t r y e x p e r t s t o p r o v i d e y o u r o r g a n i z a t i o n w i t h c o m p r e h e n s i v e e n e r g y s o l u t i o n s a n d s e r v i c e s t h a t g e n e r a t e v a l u e w h i l e r e d u c i n g e n e r g y d e m a n d a n d c o n s u m p t i o n

W e a n a l y z e g a s a c c o u n t s a n d p r o v i d e a c o m p a r i s o n o f e a c h a c c o u n t t o c o m p e t i t i v e m a r k e t p r i c e s a n d t h e u t i l i t y s u p p l y t a r i f f r a t e .

n

Jamie Polend

e: jpolend@appienergy.com

d: 667.330.1158

t i o n

How Well Has Your Bank Responded to COVID Your Customers Weigh In.

by Bruce Paul, Managing Director, CXLign Banking Rivel, Inc.

The pandemic took all banks by surprise, and all bank customers as well. With branch closings, work-at-home shifts, delinquency concerns, and the PPP, banks strained to provide the same level of service as they did prepandemic. The latest Rivel Banking Benchmarks show that as the pandemic has rolled on, some banks have hit their stride again, while others continue to stumble. Several banks that were receiving high marks from their own customers as recently as late 2019 have struggled for the past year. Other banks that have not been historically strong performers managed to shine. See the next page for the highest performers in each region.

Understanding how customers feel about their bank is crucial right now given the volatility in the market. As we inch closer to the end of the pandemic, many households and businesses are feeling more comfortable getting back out there, and that includes shopping for a new bank. The percentage of Illinois households who say they are fed up and will be switching banks within the next six months has shot up by 33% since last summer. This market volatility varies a lot by area, though: the South has increased 17% while Cook County has surged by a whopping 46%. This bodes poorly for those banks about to lose a lot of their customers, but very well for the banks with the right marketing message to attract those households and businesses.

The Rivel Banking Benchmarks, the largest survey of bank customers and prospects in the world, shows some of these differences in stark relief. The surveys are conducted online for over 4,000 banking institutions (including almost all institutions in Illinois) and entail objective interviews with two hundred thousand customers per year. During these interviews, customers and prospective customers rate their banks and credit unions (and their closest

competitors) on dozens of different metrics, from friendliness and responsiveness, to the mobile app and ATM quality, to rates and fees. Many additional timely questions are included for subscribers, with perhaps pandemic response being the most timely. Rivel asked customers from almost every banking institution in the state to rate how well their bank has responded to the pandemic. The results were quite surprising in many cases and have shown that it is possible to shine despite difficult circumstances. The rankings show the top performers in each region, according to their own customers. Banks can receive their local ratings by contacting mrandi@rivel.com.

While all banks want to see how their own customers rate their performance, looking at the data more broadly can uncover interesting results. In the most recent wave of surveying (from July 2020 to January 2021), there were some notable findings:

• Customers in the Central North region (see the exact counties below) rated their banking institutions’ pandemic response the most favorably of the five regions, while Cook County customers rated their banks lowest.

• Customers at the very largest banks were less pleased with their banks’ pandemic response (68% on average) while customers at smaller institutions were a little more satisfied (73%).

• One in four Illinois Baby Boomers surveyed is open to switching banks, compared to 34% for Gen X and Millennial participants.

Understanding how your customers view your performance through—and after—the pandemic will improve customer loyalty and reduce attrition. Banks should ignore objective customer feedback at their own peril.

Bruce Paul, Managing Director, CXLign Banking Rivel, Inc. 203.906.8923 bpaul@rivel.com

Top Rankings for Pandemic Response*

NORTHERN

• Blackhawk Bank

• Byron Bank

• Community State Bank of Rock Falls

• Crystal Lake Bank & Trust

• First American Bank

• Old Plank Trail Community Bank, N.A.

• Sauk Valley Bank & Trust Company

• St. Charles Bank & Trust Company

• Sterling Federal Bank

• Union Savings Bank

Counties: Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, DuPage, Jo Daviess, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, Lee, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside, Will, Winnebago

CENTRAL NORTH

• Bank of Farmington

• Bank of Pontiac

• BankORION

• Better Banks

• Central Bank Illinois

• CIBM Bank

• Farmers & Mechanics Bank

• Heartland Bank and Trust

• Midwest Bank

• Peoples National Bank of Kewanee

Counties: Bureau, Champaign, Ford, Fulton, Henderson, Henry, Iroquois, Knox, LaSalle, Livingston, Marshall, Mason, McDonough, McLean, Mercer, Peoria, Putnam, Rock Island, Stark, Tazewell, Vermillion, Warren, Woodford

SOUTHERN

• Bank of Carbondale

• Bank of Herrin

• Banterra Bank

• Citizens National Bank of Albion

• FCB Banks

• First Southern Bank

• Legence Bank

• Peoples National Bank

• State Bank of Whittington

• The FNB Community Bank

Counties: Alexander, Bond, Clay, Clinton, Crawford, Edwards, Fayette, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Lawrence, Madison, Marion, Massac, Monroe, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Richland, Saline, St. Clair, Union, Wabash, Washington, Wayne, White, Williamson

COOK COUNTY

• Barrington Bank & Trust

• CIBC

• Fifth Third Bank

• First Savings Bank of Hegewisch

• Glenview State Bank

• Hoyne Savings Bank

• Marquette Bank

• Northbrook Bank & Trust

• Parkway Bank & Trust Co

• Providence Bank & Trust

CENTRAL SOUTH

• Bank & Trust Company

• Bank of Springeld

• CNB Bank & Trust

• Dieterich Bank

• Hickory Point Bank & Trust

• Prairie State Bank & Trust

• Prospect Bank

• Town and Country Bank

• United Community Bank

• West Central Bank

Counties: Adams, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Christian, Clark, Coles, Cumberland, DeWitt, Douglas, Edgar, Effingham, Green, Hancock, Jersey, Logan, Macon, Macoupin, Menard, Montgomery, Morgan, Moultrie, Piatt, Pike, Sangamon, Schuyler, Scott, Shelby

*As rated by banked households in each area of Illinois. Top 10 in each area, in alphabetical order. All responses since July 2020.

BANKING BENCHMARKS

June 21-24, 2023

BRIDGINGINDUSTRY Annual Convention

Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park CHICAGO

EXECUTIVE & DIRECTORS WORKSHOP

Tales From the VaultPlaces We’ve Been and Never Want to Visit Again Kimberly Schaefer, Partner, Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP

Survive or Thrive? Framework for Building EPS and Shareholder Value in a Fast-Paced World Brian Battle, Principal & Managing Director, Performance Trust

REGULATOR PERSPECTIVES

DEANNA SINGH DEI Strategist Purposeful Hustle

DEREK THOMPSON Marketing + Economist Writer, The Atlantic

JACK ULDRICH Author + Futurist Global Trends

Michael J. Hsu, Acting Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)

MATT

IBA/OBL Annual Convention

Illinois bankers appreciated hearing legislative insight from these key elected officials and regulatory representatives - Senate President Don Harmon, Illinois Senate Minority Leader Senator John Curran, Illinois House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, Illinois State Representative and House Financial Institutions Chair Margaret Croke, Illinois House Financial Institutions Republican Spokesperson and State Representative Dan Ugaste, and representatives from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

EID occurred in late March with a great lineup of lawmakers and regulators and nearly 100 Illinois bankers in attendance.

DISCOVER HOW Open Banking is Driving the Future of Financial Services

by Shanda Purcell

As the financial services landscape evolves along with customer expectations, open banking can position institutions for the future and allow them to respond to those changes, with technology partners assisting them along the way.

Open banking allows third-party technology developers (like a core technology vendor or specialized fintech) to access a bank’s data and provide it with specialized products. Banking data is no longer confined within an institution’s walls. With open banking, financial data and capabilities are everywhere.

Exploring Open Banking

While confusion may exist over the terminology, open banking is an umbrella term that encompasses every banking use of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to share data. This software is familiar, and some banks may be surprised to know that although they haven’t referred to their practices as open banking, they’ve embraced the model for years.

Open banking APIs enable many different services through bank data exchange, including financial services like payments and account management, embedded credit score ratings, onboarding identity verification, and many more. In short, they enable the digital banking services that today’s customers

expect while simultaneously adding technology to aid employees with backend processes.

The most common open banking strategy is banking as a platform, also known as platform banking. This model involves a financial institution connecting new technologies (typically from its core technology provider) to its central enterprise core technology.

Banking as a Service (BaaS) is another open banking application that has recently gained steam. BaaS uses the foundation of open banking to enable banks, their core vendors and a nonbank organization (often a fintech) to create new financial products or provide financial products in new environments. Neither platform banking nor BaaS are synonymous with open banking. Instead, consider each of these models as an example of what open banking can do.

What Open Banking Offers Financial Institutions

In today’s competitive landscape, financial institutions must be flexible and adaptable. Open banking offers financial institutions adaptability, enabling them to:

• Incorporate new technologies – Financial institutions may not always have the time or resources to build new digital products, so connecting with a technology provider helps

them more easily “plug in” new offerings without needing to develop them internally. Transforming the core into an upgradeable platform also enables institutions to add modular features—like video chat, digital account opening or real-time transfers—much faster.

• Consolidate and use data – APIs create a “universal language” to share data, which can connect all banking systems and processes in real time. With centralized behavioral and transactional data accessible by CRM and analytics dashboards, institutions can better determine customer needs and even use journey mapping to determine where potential customers are lost.

• Automate backend processes – By consolidating data from previously disparate systems, financial institutions eliminate dual data entry and gain time to focus on customers. In addition to decreasing the likelihood of mistakes, open banking also can offer pre-built workflows and task automation. For instance, an account opening system connected to an open platform can automate data entry for returning customers and use auto-decisioning to review credit and fraud risks.

What Role Does Banking as a Service Play?

Fintechs and other technology companies once were considered almost entirely as competition in the banking space. However, the expansion of open banking has reimagined that competition as potential collaborators that can ultimately support the institution and the end consumer.

Opening bank data to third parties increasingly enables institutions to co-create new financial products or allows nonbank organizations to offer their financial services. For these institutions, pushing open banking to its next step—otherwise known as BaaS—unlocks new markets or revenue streams.

The BaaS marketplace is complex and growing every day. But the general premise is simple – each player has something to bring to the table in the ongoing effort to create new customer experiences.

When providing BaaS, financial institutions function as experts in risk and regulation that trust their core service provider to offer traditional banking services to businesses, customers, and other banks. That service provider operates as a facilitator that can assist in vetting other third-party technology providers. Each party gains revenue when consumers use these new financial products.

Technology companies bring their expertise in creating innovative product offerings through data and technology. Some technology companies exist specifically for the financial services industry (fintechs). Others provide services that are not specific to banking yet are beneficial to financial services, like cloud security, chatbots and data tokenization. Through BaaS, these companies gain the use of a financial institution’s regulated infrastructure to sell their technologies.

The BaaS market is full of opportunities that financial institutions should keep an eye on. Likely, the next game-changing open banking applications will originate from the BaaS model.

Driving an Open Banking Strategy Forward

As with all significant decisions, research into an institution’s particular open banking strategy and investments is critical. Financial institutions that wish to work with third-party technology providers must do their standard due diligence to qualify vendors.

Read CSI’s white paper, Open Banking and Banking as a Service: Opening Opportunities at tinyurl.com/ f6p2xkkj to further explore how open banking is transforming the banking sector, unlocking a growing BaaS market, and creating new opportunities for core providers, financial institutions, fintechs, and customers alike. 8

Shanda Purcell brings more than 25 years of business and product development experience to her role of Sr. Director of Open Banking in the Product Management area. She is currently responsible for working with and leading a team of dynamic and innovative professionals as part of CSI’s Open Banking Initiative, which enables banks and partners to connect their current applications with fintechs and solutions of their choice, helping them stay relevant, and competitive in the financial industry.

Illinois Fifth Grader Places Second

Nationally along with other Illinois award winners in the SIFMA Foundation’s

National InvestWrite® Competition

Fifth-grader Danyaal Rizvi placed second in the nation in the SIFMA Foundation's National InvestWrite® 2022 Fall Competition. After thoroughly researching the financial markets, Rizvi crafted a carefully planned investment portfolio for long-term returns. This extraordinary accomplishment earned him recognition from the SIFMA Foundation and the Illinois Bankers Association during an honorable school presentation on April 11, 2023. This champion of financial planning joins Benjamin Franklin's sentiment that “An

pays the best interest,” - emphasizing that investing with research as one starting point can ultimately lead to greater returns.

In April, the IBA proudly celebrated three InvestWrite awards winners, Meghan Lim, Marissa Pagano, and Jacob Duerr. Meghan, from Belding Elementary School in Chicago, wrote the top essay in Illinois for the Middle School Division of InvestWrite. Next, the IBA traveled to Carmel High School in Mundelein and Scales Mound High School in Scales Mound to present Marissa with the sixth-best award and Jacob with the tenth-best essay in the nation. The IBA is delighted to sponsor and administer SIFMA Foundation's Stock Market Game across our state. Congratulations to all awardees!

Read the winning essays

investment in knowledge

New Bank Member

First Bank & Trust Company of Illinois

300 E Northwest Hwy, Palatine, IL 60067-8117

Primary Contact: Meaghan Harmon

New Associate Members

Mindsight

2001 Butterfield Rd, Downers Grove, IL 60515-1050 gomindsight.com

Kim Morgan, kmorgan@gomindsight.com

IT Integrator. Mindsight is recognized in the industry for delivering secure IT solutions and thought leadership that addresses the bank's infrastructure and communications needs. Our engineers are expert level only – and they’re known as the most respected and valued engineering team based in Chicago, serving midmarket organizations around the globe. That’s why clients trust Mindsight as an extension of their IT team.

Voya Investment Management

7337 E Doubletree Ranch Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85258-2144 institutional.voya.com

Michael Moran, michael.moran@voya.com

The Voya Bank Advisory Group works with community and regional banks seeking to enter the broadly syndicated senior loan market. Using Voya's access and support, the bank develops a customized Commercial & Industrial loan portfolio in line with the bank's credit standards and regulatory expectations. The floating rate loans can help manage interest rate exposure and diversify loan portfolios.

ADVERTISING INDEX

Darlos J. Stroud Retires After 40 Years in Banking Compliance

Peoples National Bank of Kewanee honored Compliance Officer Darlos Stroud upon her retirement after 40 years in banking. Darlos began her banking career in 1983 at Andalusia Community Bank. In 1990, she and her family moved to Florida, where she worked at two banks and then a banking software company where she was a general ledger conversion analyst. Twenty years later, in 2010, Darlos and her husband moved back to Illinois, where she worked for Port Byron State Bank.

Peoples National Bank of Kewanee hand-selected Darlos Stroud in 2015, where she worked eight years until her retirement in March of 2023. As in most small community banks, she always wore many hats, but her primary position was always Compliance Officer.

Peoples National Bank of Kewanee Senior Vice President Randy Carton states, “She was an outstanding compliance officer. One of the greatest compliments we received was when our examiners noted that Darlos could be a trainer for them. She loved her work, and we are grateful for her time with us.”

Darlos currently resides in Reynolds, IL, and continues working for Peoples National Bank two days a week. She completes the quarterly Call Report and handles items relating to CRA (Community Reinvestment Act) and third-party vendor management. She has two children and three grandchildren. She looks forward to her “trip of a lifetime” to Alaska this July with her grandson and his fiancée.

ON THE MOVE

Galesburg F&M BANK

Mike Holloway, Knox/Warren County President of F&M Bank, is pleased to announce the promotion of three employees.

Liz Miller has been promoted to Assistant Vice President, Mortgage Loan Officer.

In this role, Liz will continue to provide expert residential mortgage lending and service to our clients.

Liz has been with F&M Bank since April 2015 as Residential Mortgage Loan Officer. She is an Event Committee Member for Relay for Life of Knox County and a member of the West Central Illinois Association of Realtors and Galesburg Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs and Transportation Committee.

Liz resides in Galesburg with her husband, Jake, and their two children.

Jennifer Pittman has been promoted to Assistant Vice President, Investment Operations Manager.

In this role, Jennifer will continue to oversee the investment operations’ daily activities.

Jen has been with F&M Bank since March 1995 and has held various positions. She was promoted to her current role of Operations Manager/Investment Services Officer in December 2016.

Jen currently serves on the Knox County Child Advocacy Friends Board.

Jen resides in Galesburg and has one adult child.

Brittney Shepherd was promoted from Small Business Banker to Business Banking Officer. Brittney joined F&M Bank in June 2021 and has over 16 years of banking experience. She serves as the primary liaison for our small business clients. She is a 2023 graduate of the Illinois Banker’s Association Future Leaders Alliance program, a fourteen-month program dedicated to enhancing the professional development of promising bank leaders through three primary components: education, community service, and networking.

Brittney is a Board Member of United Way of Knox County and an Ambassador for the Galesburg Chamber of Commerce. Brittney resides in Galesburg with her husband, Aaron, and their three children.

Peoria F&M BANK

Thomas Schlink, Peoria County President of F&M Bank, is pleased to announce that Robert Ambrose has been hired as a Business Banking Officer at the Peoria Office. In this new role, Rob will report to Tom Schlink, Peoria County President. Tom’s team will be responsible for the continued growth and development of the commercial banking department in the Peoria area market.

Rob brings extensive commercial banking experience to F&M Bank, previously holding various Small Business Banker, Commercial Loan Analyst, and Senior Mortgage Loan Officer positions and has spent 18 years in the Peoria market.

Rob graduated from Bradley University in Peoria with a bachelor of science degree in business finance.

He is a Senior Ambassador for the Peoria Chamber of Commerce, a BNI (Business Networking International) Member, a YPGP (Young Professionals of Greater Peoria) Member, and co-founder of CING (Central Illinois Networking Group).

Rob resides in Peoria with his wife, Stacie, and children, Bobby and Elodie.

Pittman

Miller

Shepherd

Bankers’ Bank announces a new addition to the team and four promotions

Bankers’ Bank, a leading correspondent bank for community banks located in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, announces the addition of new talent to the team and four promotions.

Jayne Deutmeyer* – Bankers’ Bank is excited to welcome Jayne Deutmeyer as First Vice President, Wealth Retirement Partners. In this new role, Jayne is responsible for managing and developing Bankers’ Wealth Partners and assisting bank customers with their retirement plans. She has more than 20 years of experience in wealth management with a majority of time working in community banks as an LPL Advisor. Jayne spent several years working for an employee benefits firm specializing in Qualified Employer Sponsored Retirement Plans. She is excited to share her knowledge with her team and deepen relationships with community bank partners. Jayne has obtained several designations including, AIF, CTFA and CFS.

Scott Platto – Bankers’ Bank recently promoted Scott Platto as the new Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer. In this role, he is responsible for developing and implementing strategies to help the Bank continue to grow. Scott joined Bankers’ Bank in 2019 and was previously First Vice President and Controller. He has been instrumental in the Bank’s efforts to gain compliance with FDICA as they’ve grown. Prior to joining Bankers’ Bank, Scott was with RSM accounting firm. He received his CPA in 2015 and is a graduate of University of Wisconsin Eau Claire with a degree in Accounting and Finance.

Todd Schneider – Todd Schneider has been promoted to First Vice President, Leasing. Todd has been on the Bankers’ Bank team since 2017 and has been key to expanding the Bank’s leasing presence in Wisconsin and surrounding states. Todd’s background as a commercial lender gives him the ability to understand banking in general and recognize opportunities to help community banks be successful. He promotes collaborative working relationships with his commercial and correspondent banking peers. Todd provides great leadership within the Leasing group, most

ON THE MOVE

recently spearheading the emphasis on vender financing, and is great at promoting Bankers’ Bank and Leasing through product webinars, bank conferences, and through his involvement with the Graduate School of Banking.

Steve MacMillan – Steve MacMillan has been promoted to First Vice President, Mortgage. Steve joined Bankers’ Bank in 2017, and in this role is responsible for the growth and success of the Community Mortgage Secondary Market and Loan servicing teams. In his time at Bankers’ Bank, Steve has led initiatives to grow the portfolio to $865 million, and introduced hedging strategies including a new pricing engine with positive customer impacts and hedging management software. He’s also worked closely with the Bank’s mortgage and finance teams to develop dashboard reporting, KPI’s, and developed tracking of the mortgages financial performance. In 2022, Steve took on the role of the Bank’s United Way Campaign Chair, exceeding donations from the prior year. Prior to joining the bank, Steve had previously managed a loan servicing area for a medium sized regional bank. Steve holds an Associate’s degree from Madison College.

INDUSTRY NEWS

respect tradition, and shape the future. Their members learn invaluable skills that increase their confidence and prepare them to lead.

Employees Receive First

Mid's 2022 Chairman's Award for Excellence

Mattoon, IL

Top Volunteers from First Mid Give Back to the Community Mattoon, IL

As a community-focused financial organization, First Mid is dedicated to having a positive impact in all the communities they serve. The company encourages employees to volunteer and give back to local organizations and causes. First Mid employees recorded over 15,800 volunteer hours in 2022. In addition, the company annually recognizes its top five volunteers for their contributions. Each volunteer is presented with the opportunity to choose a local organization to receive $500 from First Mid on their behalf.

Fredy Moreno is a CRA Retail Loan Officer at the Arcola and Champaign banking centers. He chose to donate to Arcola FC, a youth sports organization he started in 2019. The mission of Arcola FC is to provide area children an opportunity to play competitive soccer at a fraction of the cost.

J.P. Piper is the Information Security Administrator at the Paris banking center. He chose to donate to El Shaddai Emmaus of Indiana, which seeks to inspire, challenge, and equip leaders for Christian Action in their homes, places of work, and communities.

Amy Beals is the Executive Assistant located at Mattoon Corporate. She chose to donate to Newton Community High School’s Theatre Department, which aims to provide a creative and inclusive space where students can explore their passion for the performing arts. Through collaboration and hard work, they aim to produce high-quality productions that entertain and enrich their community. They believe in fostering a culture of respect and empathy where every student is valued and supported in their artistic pursuits. Their ultimate goal is to ignite a lifelong love of theater in their students and create a lasting impact on their community through the transformative power of the arts.

Jennifer Bartels is an Accounts Payable Officer located at Mattoon Corporate. She chose to donate to One Stop Community Christmas, a collaborative effort of many different area organizations to come together during the holiday season. Through the power of partnership, One Stop aims to provide hope and help for those in need residing in Coles, Clark, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Moultrie, and Shelby counties.

Barb Cooper is an Assistant Trust Administration Officer at the Decatur N. Main banking center. She chose to donate to Bethel #49 Job’s Daughters International, whose mission is to create confident young women,

First Mid Bancshares, Inc., the holding company of First Mid Bank & Trust, is pleased to present the 2022 Chairman’s Award for Excellence to six employees within the company. In the past year, these employees have consistently demonstrated First Mid’s core values in their everyday work while making exceptional contributions to the company. Their commitment to their customers and colleagues has rightfully earned each of them the company’s highest honor.

Carol Brown is a Senior Loan Administrator located at the Edwardsville Goshen banking center. She has been with First Mid for almost 10 years, demonstrating her commitment through the consistent exceptional service she provides to everyone she comes in contact with. Brown is known to accept any task that is thrown at her. She is the first one to work extra hours and coach new team members all while keeping her lenders organized and on schedule. When it comes to Commitment to Community, she can always be counted on to step up and volunteer her time.

Kim Cooper is a Loan Operations Officer located at Mattoon W. Broadway. She has a track record of consistently performing above expectations and always delivering extraordinary results, all while remaining calm under pressure. No matter what

project Cooper tackles, she always brings invaluable insight and motivation to the task. Her attention to detail and determination to see First Mid succeed and grow is evident to all who know her.

Megan Gifford is the Office Manager at the Bourbonnais office of First Mid Ag Services, a division of First Mid Wealth Management. She has made a profound impact on the Ag Services team this year, as evidenced by the numerous nominations she received. Gifford has been instrumental in the technology changes that the Ag team has undergone in the last year. Even with the additional work placed upon her with these projects, she is always willing to lend a hand to her teammates whenever asked - all while keeping the office running very smoothly.

Krystal LaGrow is the Deposit Operations Manager located at the Edwardsville 157 banking center. She has been with First Mid for more than 10 years, working her way up through the ranks. After LaGrow started her career as a teller, she was soon promoted to a manager role before moving into Deposit Operations. LaGrow’s expertise and reliability has proven time and time again that she can be counted on to rise to any challenge presented. She is committed to personal growth and development, and her team knows that she will champion their career paths as well.

Bryan Mitchell is the Information Systems Manager located at Mattoon W. Charleston. His willingness to look at processes from a different perspective is integral in ensuring

that practices and processes are efficient across departments. Mitchell tackles projects with a true teamwork approach and he instills this mindset in his team. Through every interaction, Mitchell exemplifies First Mid’s core values. His accountability to own and correct an issue and his teamwork are notable examples.

Kourtney vonBonin is the Assistant Manager of the Customer Support Center located at Mattoon W. Wabash. She truly personifies what First Mid is all about. When it comes to getting the work done, vonBonin leads by example. She works hard to further her own knowledge so she can be a reliable resource for her teammates, and she does everything within her power to ensure her team has the opportunities and tools needed to succeed. VonBonin understands the value of a true connection and the meaning of collaboration.

The Chairman’s Award for Excellence is First Mid’s most prestigious award. Individuals are nominated by their peers and selected by the company’s executive committee.

Fat Tuesday, Paczkis and Newly RENOVATED PNC BRANCH in Archer HeightsChicago, IL

Reminding Employees and Customers On Why They Matter with a little taste of one of Chicago’s Favorite Ethnic Treat

Hundreds of PNC employees across Chicagoland were tempted on Tuesday, Feb. 21st with a freshly made Paczki. Over 600 Polish treats were delivered to PNC branches across Chicagoland as part of PNC’s annual Employee Appreciation Day, which coincides with Fat Tuesday and Chicago’s love of the delicious treat.

Every year, PNC’s Chicago leadership team fans out to help remind

INDUSTRY NEWS

employees that they matter, with treats delivered and in-person visits. In Archer Heights, PNC Regional President Scott Swanson also joined in to celebrate BOTH Employee Appreciation Day and a grand opening of our recent investment in the newly renovated branch on 5075 S. Archer Avenue. Along with business leaders, community partners, long-time customers, and the Polish and Spanish-speaking staff, the morning included an official ribbon cutting and enjoying fresh paczkis from nearby Celina’s Bakery.

Sebastian Lewanczyk, PNC Branch Manager; Meshell Madgett, Treasurer Southwest Chicago Chamber of Commerce; Diane Ruiz, Chief Financial Officer Southwest Chicago Chamber of Commerce; Mario Rodriguez, PNC Minority Business Development Sales Director (with fresh paczkis from Celina’s Bakery).

Yanni Vassilopoulos, PNC Retail Chicago Area Manager; Ryan Alwood PNC Retail Great Lakes Manager; Michal Skowron, PNC Business Banking assistant manager; Sebastian Lewanczyk, PNC Branch Manager; Scott Swanson PNC Regional President, Illinois

Sebastian Lewanczyk, PNC Branch Manager; Bogdan Pukzta, Executive Director PolishAmerican Chamber of Commerce; Jan Mlynarski, member Polish-American Chamber of Commerce

PNC Survey Shows Small Business Owners See Bright Futures for Their Own Businesses

• Nearly six in 10 small and mid-sized business owners are highly optimistic about their own company's prospects in the next six months, a survey high.

• Almost two-thirds believe business conditions in the U.S. will improve.

• Fewer business owners plan to increase their own prices to customers by 5% or more than in 2022.

Pittsburgh, Feb. 27, 2023 -- Based on the results of PNC's latest semi-annual survey of small and mid-sized businesses, which concluded Feb. 6, it appears that resilient business owners are defying predictions of an economic downturn later this year. In fact, business owner optimism about the outlook for their own businesses in the next six months has reached a 20-year survey high.

Six in 10 business leaders feel highly optimistic about the prospects for their own company despite remaining cautious about the national and their local economies. The gap between optimism for their company versus the broader U.S. economy is now at a survey high of 34 percentage points, nearly double the historic survey average (18 percentage points).

The survey, now in its 21st year, also revealed that leaders are expecting a better overall business environment with nearly two-thirds (63%) expressing belief that business conditions in the U.S. will improve in the next six months and a majority (58%) expecting to see sales increases in the same timeframe.

"Although we expect the Federal Reserve to continue to raise interest rates in the spring of 2023 and economic growth is slowing, businesses remain optimistic about their own near-term prospects. In particular, business owners are finding that strong market conditions are prompting decisions to raise prices for the goods and services they offer," said Gus Faucher, chief economist of The PNC Financial Services Group.

Business owners also see an easing in pricing pressures. Fewer businesses than in the last three waves of the semiannual survey report that they plan to increase their own prices to customers by 5% or more in the next six months. In addition, fewer than half (47%) anticipate supplier prices to increase in the next six

months, down from over half (53%) last fall and returning to a level similar to a year ago (46%). Fewer businesses (21%) expect consumer price increases of 5% or more in the U.S. economy, overall, compared to last fall (36%).

Supply chain concerns also are declining. More businesses expect supply chain timeliness to improve compared to six months ago, and fewer are experiencing inventory shortages. While supply chain disruptions remain the top worry for two in 10 (18%) owners, this area of concern no longer stands out significantly from others, and in fact, matches the proportion primarily concerned about the cost of materials (18%).

"It is clear that inflationary pressures are easing. Businesses are finding it easier to obtain materials and supplies, inventory levels are returning to normal, and businesses are expecting inflation to slow. But with the tight job market, labor costs remain a concern," Faucher said.

The portion of business owners expecting to increase their number of fulltime employees declined from six months ago, while the difficulty in hiring remains constant. Specifically, a little more than one in 10 (13%) business owners expect to increase their number of full-time employees over the next six months, down from two in 10 (21%) last fall and a year ago (20%). A similar portion (15%) expect to increase the number of parttime employees over the same timeframe, unchanged from last fall and up from 8% a year ago.

Among businesses actively hiring employees, more than one-third (36%) say it's become harder to hire qualified candidates over the past six months, similar to last fall (39%) and last spring (36%). The most common barrier among those having difficulty hiring is the lack of applicants (47%). Other challenges facing business leaders experiencing difficulty in hiring qualified employees include candidates' lack of job-related skills or experience (22%) and compensation requirements that are higher than the business can afford to pay (19%).

Other findings in the survey include:

• Quest for Credit: Nearly two in 10 (17%) business owners expect to request a loan or line of credit in the

next six months, up from last fall (6%) and a year ago (11%). Among the eight in 10 unlikely to request a loan or line of credit, more than three-quarters (77%) say they have no need for funds; one-quarter are hesitant to take on debt, less than two in 10 (16%) feel the cost of credit is too high and only a few (8%) have a concern about the loan process or the ability of the business to qualify.

• Preparing for Cash Flow Issues: Three-quarters (74%) of businesses are currently maintaining an emergency cash reserve fund, up sharply from 58% last fall. Among businesses with an emergency reserve, half consider the amount to be about average (50%), similar to last fall (54%), while four in 10 say their current reserves are higher than what is typical for the business (41%), an increase since last fall (28%). Construction businesses are among those most likely to report higher reserves than normal (56%), particularly compared to 35% of service and 38% of retail/wholesale industry businesses.

Full national and regional survey results are available at pnc.mediaroom.com. For information about PNC, visit www.pnc.com.

Methodology

The PNC Economic Outlook survey was conducted by telephone from 1/3/2023 to 2/6/2023, among small and mid-sized businesses with self-reported revenue of $100,000 to $250 million. 500 interviews were conducted nationally. Sampling error for the nationwide results is +/- 4.4% at the 95% confidence level. The survey was conducted by Artemis Strategy Group (www.ArtemisSG. com), a communications strategy research firm specializing in brand positioning and policy issues. The firm, headquartered in Washington D.C., provides communications research and consulting to a range of public and private sector clients.

DISCLAIMER: This report was prepared for general information purposes only and is not intended as specific advice or recommendations. Any reliance upon this information is solely and exclusively at your own risk. NOTE: The sum of percentages may not add to the total due to rounding.

SOURCE The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.

Quality Service is the Key to SBA Lending Success

As the No. 1 SBA lender in Illinois in 2021 and 2022, Wintrust exemplifies successful SBA lending practices through meticulous customer service, local-market knowledge, and a team committed solely to SBA lending. Business owners seeking loans appreciate the guidance their lending team provides through the process, ensuring clients receive the right financing solution for their specific needs.

Wintrust’s dedicated SBA lending team specializes in serving the needs of businesses throughout Illinois, Wisconsin, and Northwest Indiana and can focus 100% of its time on SBA loan services. This team will walk customers through every step of the process, acting as specialized product partners and providers for Wintrust’s commercial banking team, which leads to more precise solutions for loan seekers.

With this model, Wintrust’s SBA lending team has outperformed all other SBA lenders in the state in 2021 and 2022 based on the total amount of SBA loans they’ve helped process for their business customers. And like all Wintrust bankers, their SBA team is made up of highly professional, strong communicators who understand the nuances of the local business community and are affable to work with.

Wintrust also is the recipient of multiple Greenwich awards for customer satisfaction.

Ready to Partner with You

Wintrust’s market familiarity and local-decision making ensures that the SBA lending process is straightforward for business owners. And because they serve clients in-market, Wintrust’s team of experts is always available to help. For questions or referrals, please reach out to the Wintrust SBA lending team today.

Find a banker at www.wintrust.com

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Robert (Scott) Grigsby

Robert (Scott) Grigsby, 71, of Bella Vista, Arkansas, and Fort Myers, Florida, left to meet his Lord and Savior on Thursday, March 23rd. As he had wished, he passed at home, peacefully; surrounded by those he loved most.

Scott was born November 17, 1951, the son of Betty (Patterson) Grigsby and Jack M. Grigsby. He married his loving wife Shawn (McInerney) Grigsby on August 9, 1975, and they were happily married for 47 ½ years. He was a loving and supportive father to Ryan Grigsby of Bella Vista, Arkansas, and Shea (Mike) Harris of Rogers, Arkansas. He was the caring and proud grandfather of Jackson "Jack" Harris of Rogers, Arkansas, and McKenna Grigsby of Colorado. He also leaves behind a

sister, Tracey (Kevin) Welch of Joplin, Missouri, sisters-in-law Erin (Ken) Yuhas of Streator, Illinois, and Kelly (John) Schroeder of Mason, Ohio. In addition, he leaves behind three nieces, a nephew, a great-niece, and three great-nephews whom he loved dearly.

Although born in Neosho, Missouri, he spent most of his life in Streator, Illinois. He graduated from the University of Arkansas with a finance and banking degree. He also attended the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin. Scott was a successful and innovative banker and advisor for over 40 years. He rose to the position of President of the Union National Bank at the young age of 32. His drive and leadership abilities led the organization’s growth to the point where the bank went public in 1995. Scott finished his career as Executive Vice President and Regional Manager for Arvest in Bentonville, Arkansas. During his career, Scott was elected to the Board and served as 1992

President of the Illinois Bankers Association and also served on the Board of the American Bankers Association. As a fierce industry advocate, Scott led the IBA to ultimately passing unrestricted bank branching laws in Illinois which gained him national attention.

Arkansas Razorback "Red" ran through his veins, and he was a huge St. Louis Cardinals fan. An avid golfer, he had nerves of steel on the links. Scott was a son, a husband, a father, a grandfather, a brother, and a friend. He will be greatly missed by the multitude of those he loved and those he helped along the way. However, he remains in our hearts and minds forever.

Memorials may be directed to the Scholarship Funds of either the Illinois Valley Community College in Oglesby, Illinois, or the Northwest Arkansas Community College of Bentonville, Arkansas.

Lynne Dorothy Mapes-Riordan, age 60, of Evanston, IL.

Beloved wife of Daniel Mapes-Riordan. Loving mother of Adrian Daniel (Brittany) Riordan & Eileen Katherine Mapes-Riordan. Devoted daughter of Lynn Gordon Mapes and the late Dorothy Rose Mapes. Dear sister of Christine (Jim) Mapes-Pearson, Kathy Mapes (Stuart Atkin), and Mary Mapes (the late Peter D’Agostino). Kind aunt, cousin, and friend of many.

Lynne Mapes-Riordan was born in Chicago, Illinois, on January 28, 1963.

She was raised in Jenison, Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids. Both of her parents were history professors at local universities. She graduated from high school in 1981 and from the University of Michigan in 1985. She married her high school sweetheart shortly after graduating college, and they moved to Atlanta, Georgia, for graduate studies. She graduated from the Georgia State University School of Law (cum laude) in 1989.

She moved back to Chicago after law school, starting her career as an associate attorney at Pope, Ballard, Shepard, and Fowle. She would eventually become a partner at Barack, Ferrazzano, Kirschbaum, and Perlman where she practiced law from

1994 until her diagnosis of ALS in January of 2021 forced her retirement. According to her law partners, "Lynne was always the most supportive, caring and committed BFKN partner. She loved and cared about the firm throughout her time with us and even after she retired. Lynne was a mentor to so many in the firm, particularly young women. She had a great sense of humor and she welcomed all opportunities to socialize with those of us at BFKN. Lynne helped to initiate so many good programs and policies at BFKN. Her door was always open to discuss whatever issue, business, personal or otherwise, you might be encountering. Lynne was level-headed and thoughtful and you would always

Lynne Dorothy Mapes-Riordan

IN MEMORY

know that her advice deserved your careful consideration."

Lynne was very engaged with the Illinois Bankers Association and the Illinois banking community. She served as a popular educator for several programs including The ONE Conference, webinars, and much more. She also was a strong resource in assisting the IBA with HR-related personnel matters. Her subject matter expertise and friendship will be greatly missed.

Lynne also was a woman of faith. She moved with her husband Dan to Evanston, Illinois in 1990, where they raised their children, Adrian, born in 1992, and Eileen, born in 1994. They became regular parishioners at St. Nicholas (now St. John XXIII) Catholic Church. While there, Lynne served on Liturgy Committees, was a Eucharistic minister and Lector, and knitted items for the St. Nick's Knitters, who sold their wares and gave the proceeds to the St. Vincent DePaul Society. In addition, as part of a parishioner-lead group at St. Nicks, she petitioned the Archdiocese of Chicago to become a female deacon in the Catholic Church. Her petition eventually made it to the Vatican where the issue of female deacons is still being considered. As part of this effort, she studied (part-time) at the Chicago Theological Union, graduating with a Master’s Degree in Liturgy in 2017.

Besides knitting, Lynne's other hobbies included running half-marathons, sailing, scuba diving, Chicago Cubs baseball, travel, music concerts, and biking. She frequently joined her mother on her Spring break trips eventually visiting thirty-one different countries. In the summer, she could be seen with her family on the beach solo sailing a sunfish off Greenwood beach in Evanston or on Lake Leelanau near Traverse City, Michigan. She enjoyed

biking for fun and exercise and sought out more challenging terrain near Blue Mounds, Wisconsin and Leelanau County, Michigan, to help prepare her for European bike trips in France, Spain, and Italy. On her last bike trip, she climbed 1800 feet of elevation during an 18-mile ride in Austin, Texas, just ten days before she was officially diagnosed with ALS.

She enjoyed attending music concerts of many genres with her family, everything between Riot Fest and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO), for which she had season tickets since moving to Chicago in 1989. In fact, she had purchased tickets to the CSO for a concert the evening she passed away on February 20.

Lynne and her family also are avid Cubs fans, and even throughout Lynne’s battle with ALS, they attended ball games. Prior to her diagnosis, one of her favorite evening activities was watching a Cubs game on TV with her family while knitting and a glass of wine at her side.

ALS took a lot from Lynne, but it never took her spirit, the spark in her eye, or her love of life. Lynne accepted the ALS diagnosis with more grace and humility than any of us could likely muster.

Lynne will be missed by all of us who had the privilege to know her, to work with her, and to be her friend. But, she leaves a real legacy in terms of her talents, her commitments to her family, church, and law firm, and, most importantly, her zest for life.

One of her final pieces of advice, using her eyes to type on her speech tablet, was, “My advice for someone recently diagnosed with ALS is to pick joy, not bitterness, for the long journey through the dark times and to brighten each day."

A Rare IBA Group Meeting Relic Gifted

An excerpt from the 1923 Illinois Banker magazine -

“The high standard of the group meetings in the southern part of the state was fully maintained by the three meetings held last week at Monmouth, Canton and Clinton on June 5th, 6th and 7th respectively

Under “Associational Observations” President Wirt Wright addressed each meeting on Association affairs; Mr. C.H. Ireland, Chairman of the Protective Committee talked on “Protective Dividends”; The address of Mr. C.D. Hardy, Manager of Public Relations Department of Swift & Company, Chicago, on “Economic Relations” which was delivered at each meeting was most interesting and instructive and met with enthusiastic approval.

A very pleasant feature of the Group Two meeting was the recognition of President Wright’s birthday by the entire assemblage at luncheon drinking his health in a standing toast. He was also agreeably surprised by some beautiful flowers which were presented by anonymous donors.”

Jeff DeBruin, Municipal Trust & Savings Bank, gifted a 1919 IBA Membership “Pulveroid” sign to the IBA. This item joins many historical items to be included in the future IBA historical display.

Anthony G. Nestler, IBA Vice-Chair and President & CEO, Hickory Point Bank & Trust, gifted Betsy Johnson, IBA Chair and President and CEO of Solutions Bank a rare IBA relic: an IBA Group Meeting pin from 1923.

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