Testimonials from bankers.
Testimonials from bankers.
I started my career out as a bank examiner with the Federal Reserve. I can’t stress enough the importance of maintaining a strong and robust regulatory compliance infrastructure and overall risk management infrastructure. [IntraFi] being such a significant vendor or partner, really, you know we have to go through a vendor due diligence process on an annual basis. I’ve never had any issue with presenting a dozen, two dozen questions to the folks over at [IntraFi] and getting a very thorough and expeditious response from them. It shows in the culture of [IntraFi] and how they’ve been able to help us deal with our vendor due diligence and compliance issues.
Charles Levingston
Having access to the kind of scale that IntraFi provides us with is why our partnership is so successful. The ability to access large amounts of funding so quickly is essential. We have also been able to use IntraFi’s solutions to access funding on good terms as far as interest rates which is very important to the bank. IntraFi excels in customer service and responsiveness making doing business with them easy.
Ben Swinney
I’ve been President & CEO since 1999. I remember going to a meeting and a guy told me that I would be the last president of the Bank of Clarke County because, at some point, the bank would be forced to sell because of all the regulatory pressures and constraints on earnings. And, you couldn’t keep your shareholders happy. In order to survive, we needed to grow. In a perfect world, you use core deposits, but core deposits and the loan demand sometimes don’t flow at the same time. So we’re able to use [IntraFi] to sort of fill in and sort of level off the gaps there, and it’s been a real big help to us. And it allows us to sort of leverage the assets we have and the capital we have to grow.
John Milleson
In 2008, we were very tight on managing our collateral for public funds. Local municipalities were able to provide larger amounts of deposits but required protection. Prior to [IntraFi’s] products, we had hard thresholds and a difficult time retaining and originating these relationships. As we continue to see growth of our balance sheet, [IntraFi’s] products will be important to taking care of certain customers. I think our success allows us to serve that mission better.
Jim McCarty
I have worked with [IntraFi] since 2009, and I have been continually impressed by the way they continue to seek out innovation with not only the financial institutions in mind, but also the customer experience. Staff [is] typically top notch and extraordinarily responsive.
Banker
Our public funds customers appreciate knowing that when they place their funds through ICS, those funds are eligible for FDIC protection beyond $250,000 and earn interest. That benefits them, as well as local taxpayers, as our bank can make those funds available for investment.
Mario Martinez
Because we are a member of the [IntraFi] network, we have an opportunity to generate fee income on deposits we are not using for lending when loan demand is slack.
Phil Guarnieri
It’s really important for us to have a stable, reliable, accessible, and nimble source of funding at a reasonable price, and that’s something that [IntraFi] provides for us.
Charles Levingston
Best customer service I've experienced in 40 years of banking. Whenever I request assistance with a procedure, they walk me through solving it myself, and I have ALWAYS come away with, not only my problem being solved, but more training on other issues. Personnel are great at "hearing" key words that help them determine how they can help beyond the current issue. Placing CD orders/reorders is a very smooth process.
Banker
[IntraFi] wants to serve us. It’s all about the relationship.
Ken Burgess
We have a large portfolio for our bank size, and we really use this. Our clients really do appreciate this, and if they're not talking about FDIC insurance, it's still a concern for them if they need a large amount of liquidity on the private side. So, we continue to talk about it.
SVP
The products that [IntraFi] offers…CDs through CDARS, and money market deposit accounts, demand deposit accounts [through ICS] that are insured — those are products that appeal to a space that has, for community banks, been difficult to garner from the big box banks over the years. Pricing is something that doesn’t get spoken a great deal about when we’re looking at ICS and CDARS. You’re pricing these deposits and trying to win over these larger clients, but it’s on your terms rather than a wholesaler that says, ‘Well, this is the price for today—the all-in cost.' I think that’s really huge for a community bank that relies a great deal on their net interest margin because their fee-based activities are a smaller part of their overall profitability model.
Jim Di Misa
Training our associates is the key to our success. Once our team rallied behind this service, deposit growth just took off. Not long after we launched this product, we had several million in CDARS deposits; in just a few months it had doubled, and in a few more months it had tripled. It grew with relative ease.
John Paul Koch
I was apprehensive when we joined [IntraFi], but the experience I've had over the years has been nothing but positive. The products themselves are an excellent tool for our larger-dollar customers, and the customer service at [IntraFi] is fabulous. My favorite part is that [IntraFi] does all the work—right down to telling me what journal entries to make—what could be easier?!
Banker
We signed up for ICS for three key reasons. First and foremost, it fills a need of our customers by providing them with flexible funds that are eligible for FDIC insurance. Second, it lets us keep those funds on our balance sheet, which gives us the dollars to lend into our communities. Finally, we have been long-time users of other [aspects of the product]. We and our customers have come to trust the quality and professionalism of [IntraFi].
James O. Donnelly
We love that [IntraFi] gives us options. We can either attract deposits and sell the excess to other banks with One-Way Sell or purchase funding through One-Way Buy. This is especially helpful in today’s regulatory environment.
Gray Flora
We were one of the first banks to join the [IntraFi] network. We realized that CDARS was a game changer—one that would give banks like ours not just competitive equality with large financial companies, but a real competitive advantage in attracting local customers.
Earl McVicker
With great success, we are selling ICS to our large-deposit clients as a retention vehicle, as well as using ICS to lower cost of funds and attract new deposit business.
John Calpey
So, we have been able to use this and pick up a lot of deposits that we wouldn't have been able to before. We've got one client that we may have lost because his account far exceeded the $250K FDIC limit, and we didn’t want to pledge on it. We probably got $10 million on deposit from them now, because we can use this service – it has made us very competitive.
Market President of a Community Bank
A valuable partnership means helping each other succeed, and IntraFi allows us to do so. Their reciprocal offering enables us to provide our customers access to millions in FDIC insurance while growing our deposit base. We are proud to provide a solution for our customers and bank with IntraFi’s services.
Ben Swinney
We have a large portfolio for our bank size, and we really use this. Our clients really do appreciate this, and if they're not talking about FDIC insurance, it's still a concern for them if they need a large amount of liquidity on the private side. So, we continue to talk about it.
SVP
So the advantage to them [municipalities] to move it over to us is that they leave a large regional bank that they may be banking with that the funds are invested in that local government pool. And when they move over to us, they are working with a more local community bank. What we found that municipalities are enjoying the fact that they're partnering with their community bank versus a regional bank, because the community bank is who is helping, you know business clients and their residents with their banking and keeping the businesses going because we're very engaged with the business community. So, the local municipalities are feeling as if they should also do business locally...So we've been able to utilize [IntraFi], to be able to get the entire relationship.
EVP, Director of Retail Banking
Great partners! Critical to achieving our on-balance-sheet deposit goals.
Banker
[IntraFi] has been a very easy company to work with. Customer service is excellent!
Banker
There is a cyclical nature, obviously, about our industry that stems from varying economic conditions and really competitive trends that occur in our marketplace. So our goal is to create a tool box full of tools that we can utilize in any cycle to ensure balance sheet stability. That allows us to minimize the risk inherent in our balance sheet. If we are in a period of time where we are in a fight – a battle for deposits, we have a tool that we can utilize to allow us to be competitive at a level way beyond the size and scope of our balance sheet, yet still be protected. If we are flush with deposits, we have a tool for that as well.
Luanne Cundiff
[IntraFi] has been a tremendous partner over the years, helping us to grow and retain deposits.
Banker
The people I have worked with at [IntraFi] have been some of the most exceptional I have worked with over the years. These are people who are friendly and knowledgeable and share the same values as the organization I work for.
Banker
Throughout my career, I've heard bankers tell stories of how they've used IntraFi to earn money on excess deposits. I've also heard them tell stories about how they've increased deposit insurance coverage for large deposits from customers who wanted increased coverage. I've also heard them talk about how they've used it for municipal deposits, instead of having to pledge securities as collateral, because it's simpler and less expensive. So there are so many solutions within one relationship that I've heard [and] nothing but good comments from the bankers I've worked with throughout my career.
Peter Gwaltney
My experiences with [IntraFi] have always been top notch. From being in a fully integrated environment to moving to a bank and helping lead the integration project from start to finish, my interactions with the support and integration teams have always been exceptional.
Banker
I have worked at many banks that have used [IntraFi’s] services. [IntraFi] made the implementation and maintenance seamless.
Banker
I have always had positive experiences with [IntraFi], regardless of the product or process. The systems are efficient and easy to use and integrate nicely with core systems. Everyone is knowledgeable.
Banker
I would highly recommend IntraFi to other banks. They've been such an incredible resource to us, both in good times and in bad, helping us with resources to help our customers. I also love the fact that I can be completely honest with them and transparent about our business situation. They're not competing with me. They're there to help me keep my customers, rather than to take them away.
Jill Castilla
I have worked with [IntraFi] since 2009, and I have been continually impressed by the way they continue to seek out innovation with not only the financial institutions in mind, but also the customer experience. Staff [is] typically top notch and extraordinarily responsive.
Banker