What others are saying
Testimonials
What’s happening in the industry today can have an impact on your business tomorrow. We’re here to provide the information you need and the insights you want from people you can trust. Come back often as we update frequently.
What Bankers Say
[Section 202 of S. 2155] gives Empire State Bank a powerful new tool to compete with the largest institutions for the deposits generated by small professional offices. It provides a way for Empire State Bank to attract new, valuable customers - customers that not only have sizeable deposits, but who can act as a referral source to other customers for our lending and other services. It also gives the bank a tool for managing liquidity.
We’ve been with [IntraFi] for more than 10 years, and it’s been a wonderful relationship. It started with really the need to offer our high-end customers the opportunity to retain insurance for their deposits beyond the traditional FDIC insurance [limit], but we’ve gone way past that. Now, it’s churches, firehouses, school systems, government entities. The product diversification that [IntraFi] offers has really appealed to these other constituencies.
IntraFi’s customer service is top-notch—they’re proactive, they anticipate our needs, and they do the extra leg-work to make things as seamless for us as possible. I’ve never worked with a more supportive team, much less had a negative experience.
Reciprocal deposits absolutely give us a competitive edge, It levels the playing field by helping us attract and keep large deposits.”
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.
Without reciprocal deposits we couldn’t do what we do in this community
IntraFi offers a diversified set of tools that can benefit community banks in any environment they encounter
Reciprocal deposits are popular because they tend to be associated with multi-million-dollar depositors, enabling banks to attract deposits in large chunks with lower acquisition and maintenance costs as costs tend to be spread over much larger deposit amounts. Moreover, they tend to come from local customers at rates that are more in line with local pricing norms. They also tend to come from customers who are more likely to be interested in a broader, more long-term relationship that may include mortgages, credit cards, and other profit-generating services.
Unlike its competitors, [IntraFi] doesn’t compete with us for our customers. We own our customer relationships. We set our rates. [IntraFi] crafts its services from a banker’s perspective. Head to toe, [IntraFi] is all about community banks. The company’s services level the playing field, helping us to better compete with much larger players.
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.
I also love the resources IntraFi provides for there to be peer-to-peer discussions... Peer Intelligence was such a blessing a couple of years ago when that was launched, where I could post questions without disclosing the bank that I was at and ask critical questions, whether it was regarding products and services … or leadership issues.
The ACT Deposit Program created a secure and efficient way for community development banks to attract and retain large institutional deposits.
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 within the community.
Community banking is still vibrant, and it’s made more vibrant because of the tools we have at our disposal, such as those provided by IntraFi.
IntraFi has provided a wonderful tool for us to fund the expansion of the bank
CDARS is the perfect match for us and our public fund customers. It can eliminate the need for deposit collateralization, which frees up our time, frees up their time, and reduces everyone’s administrative tracking costs. It also allows our previously restricted funds to work harder and for their funds to be channeled back into the local community. We all win.
The service is impeccable.
IntraFi can be so helpful to banks in terms of their liability management. It can help them attract and maintain their deposits, typically from their local customers, and it can help them earn fee income in addition. I think one of the great things about it is [that] it helps community banks, particularly, compete with the largest banks for deposits and compete with money market mutual funds. And so this is something that's so important to community banks in terms of having the money they need to lend in their communities.
What Depositors Say
The tool(reciprocal deposits) provides a very healthy balance for the safety, liquidity, and yield.
With ICS, our town can access multi-million-dollar FDIC insurance protection, as well as earn interest. Plus, our bank can make these funds available for investment within the local community.
This product offers us both the liquidity and safety that we are looking for and allows us to capitalize on the cash needs of our growing, evolving company, especially through our relationship with [our bank].
We were mainly interested in ICS for the security." “You know, one less thing to worry about. But the time savings have been huge, too. For many companies, this would probably be the main selling point—most people think they need relationships with ten other banks to get insurance coverage. They don’t.”
Great partners! Critical to achieving our on-balance-sheet deposit goals.
Our school system has utilized the CDARS service for years and is very pleased about the addition of the ICS service. With CDARS, we have access to FDIC insurance on our funds that are invested for a longer timeframe while meeting our investment policy mandates and earning CD-level returns. With ICS, we can protect and invest our funds on a shorter-term basis while earning a return. CDARS and ICS combined provide us with an efficient cash management solution.
I was looking for a flexible investment vehicle that I could use for a special need we had. With ICS and CDARS, I found safety, flexibility, and yield - all in one place! I’m comfortable we are protected [with ICS and CDARS]. The money was sitting in a non-interest account. Watching interest come in was lovely. And we need to have access to cash quickly. Some restricted, some operational, some for purchase of land we account for that separately in house but it’s all lumped into one account for interest purposes.
The IntraFi product protects our funds, earns a competitive rate, and does not cost us the significant time and effort required if we were to do this ourselves.
I will never again bank with a bank that is not part of the IntraFi network.
Tell me a reason not to be doing this(reciprocal deposits)? There isn’t one.
Upon joining the county treasurer’s office, I was intrigued to learn that a portion of the county’s funds were placed through CDARS. I quickly appreciated the security and ease of placing large deposits through a single bank while keeping the money FDIC insured, and have since added the ICS serivce as well. CDARS and ICS free up the capital of smaller banks to finance community growth while still allowing them to accept our larger deposits. We can support the prosperity of the community while investing the taxpayers’ money competitively and safety through a community bank. A winning combination.
ICS came in and its been amazing. And we’re getting more money out of the sweep than money markets originally. Sweep makes so much sense. We cut checks once a week. We don't have to think about it [managing the process]. It has helped to solidify our relationship with our bank. Also I have been with lots of banks here [at my chosen local bank] I can get someone on the phone at any time. Don’t have to have to talk to 18 different people. I can get one person. And when I get someone on the phone, they're there.
The previous Treasurer kept all the money in local government pools, and then had pledged securities as collateral. All of the money was not local. They didn't have any local banks. So what I did when I came in as treasurer was analyze those accounts and move a large portion of our money to local community banks. [Our city] is the state capital, but it is a very small town so to speak. Now, having that money in municipal local banks was important for me because then the local banks can then lend that money out to local businesses. I worked for 25 years in banking and understand that concept, so it was important to me that the municipality helped support the local financial institutions. Without IntraFi that would not have been possible.
We face the important, but cumbersome task of making certain that our deposits are eligible for protection. To do so, we required our bank to pledge millions of dollars of collateral. It was our responsibility to track the changing values of that collateral every day. Now, thanks to [our bank], we discovered ICS. By placing our funds through ICS, our funds are eligible for FDIC protection beyond $250,000 and earn interest - both of which really benefit us and local taxpayers. The best part is that Capitol Bank can use our deposits to fund local lending and economic growth. And the recurring burden of tracking collateral values is gone. The service is truly a benefit for us.
. . . You know, we've gotten a little bit more sophisticated since I've come. They used to make about 50 to 100 grand a year in interest. Last year, or this year ending June 30, we probably will make almost half a million [while protecting our investment with FDIC insurance].
We need things as simple as simple can be. That’s how we started with [ICS and CDARS]. Been with them since 2008.
I have found participation in the CDARS [service] to be simple and a time saver. We earn very competitive interest rates on our investments while freeing up staff time. We were in the CDARS [service] during our last audit and passed with flying colors!
I was looking for a flexible investment vehicle that I could use for a special need we had. With ICS and CDARS, I found safety, flexibility, and yield - all in one place!
