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
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.
Outstanding record of being responsive and engaged.
The resources and the individuals and the integrity of the organization are above reproach. There’s never been a question that’s gone unanswered. Whenever we've had challenging times as an organization, they’ve been by our side.
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].
With ICS, we compete by having the opportunity to offer a valued product that offers security to our depositors who want to earn interest. A community bank may be well-known in the community but often must compete with the global banks that may have more notoriety and the perception of greater financial strength.
The ACT Deposit Program offers a streamlined approach for providing essential deposits to our member banks serving their communities. This initiative empowers our members to facilitate homeownership, business growth, and financial stability, contributing to job creation and the overall vitality of communities across America.
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.
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.
The flexibility of IntraFi’s variable priced funding options for 6 months, 12 months, and 18 months was huge for the bank.
[IntraFi] gives us a lot of advantages that some of the largest institutions may have today so that we can provide some of our more sophisticated borrowers with the products and services that they really want.
Every dollar that you put into our bank through ICS or CDARS (IntraFi’s brand names for reciprocal deposits) comes right back here, and we can then lend it back out to help keep the local economy vibrant.
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.
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.
One of the most powerful aspects of our relationship with [IntraFi] is our ability to attract depositors who believe what we believe - believe that placing capital in an institution that is focused on making a difference in the community is a worthwhile practice. But they want to do so with a fair rate, without additional risk. [IntraFi] has provided, if you will, a wonderful tool for us to fund the expansion of the bank. As we grow the scale of the bank, what we do is grow our capability, our capacity, to be able to lend back into the community. And that’s what it’s really all about, so that we can lend back into the community and really make a difference with these underlying businesses.
Reciprocal deposits absolutely give us a competitive edge, It levels the playing field by helping us attract and keep large deposits.”
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.
We enjoy being able to replace repos and letters of credit, as well as reducing our need for collateral, with [ICS and CDARS].
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
When we looked at this product (ICS & CDARS), we said yes, absolutely, this is something we need to jump on. It was a no brainer.
I will never again bank with a bank that is not part of the IntraFi network.
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.
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.
Tell me a reason not to be doing this(reciprocal deposits)? There isn’t one.
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.
An important motivator in our using a single bank is that the business is a cash business, and every day we must make trips to the bank, as the company collects money from customers on a daily basis. Many still pay in checks. Having one bank to work with [using ICS and CDARS] makes it much easier.
