If you talk to enough community bank leaders, these days — and we do — you start to hear the same thing: Deposits just aren’t what they used to be.
Community banks have always been the heart of local economies. Trusted. Relationship-first. Focused on deposits and consumer needs. But over the past couple of years, the ground has been shifting fast.
Between high-yield online accounts, fintechs, crypto, neobanks, and investment platforms, traditional deposit-gathering has become… complicated. According to McKinsey, over 40% of U.S. banking consumers now use a fintech product. Five years ago, many of those platforms barely existed. Today, they’re everywhere.
So, if you’re running a community bank, the question becomes: Where does our next phase of growth come from?
From what we’re seeing and hearing at LendingStandard, many banks are placing their bets on growing their Commercial Client base to fuel this future growth. A number of the community banks we’ve spoken with are investing in staff and solutions that focus more on growing their Commercial and Industrial (C&I) lending practice. And it makes sense. Business customers don’t just bring deposits — they bring relationships, recurring revenue, and broader impact on the local economy.
But this is a big but. Success in C&I lending isn’t just about shifting strategy. It requires rethinking how your bank operates. It means faster decisioning, more personalized service, better risk tools, and technology that doesn’t slow you down.
As one banker put it to me recently, “We can’t keep serving commercial customers with consumer tools.”
Exactly.
The institutions that are going to win in the next decade are the ones modernizing now. Because let’s face it: the big banks are pulling back on lending, and fintechs aren’t equipped for full-service business banking. That leaves a massive opportunity for community banks — if they’re ready to move.
So, if you’re on the leadership team at a bank or credit union, here are a few questions worth asking:
- Are our current systems built for commercial growth?
- Can we compete on speed, service, and relevance with today’s business customers?
- What’s holding us back from becoming the bank local businesses turn to first?
This is a critical moment for community banking. Let’s not let it pass us by.
If you talk to enough community bank leaders, these days — and we do — you start to hear the same thing: Deposits just aren’t what they used to be.
Community banks have always been the heart of local economies. Trusted. Relationship-first. Focused on deposits and consumer needs. But over the past couple of years, the ground has been shifting fast.
Between high-yield online accounts, fintechs, crypto, neobanks, and investment platforms, traditional deposit-gathering has become… complicated. According to McKinsey, over 40% of U.S. banking consumers now use a fintech product. Five years ago, many of those platforms barely existed. Today, they’re everywhere.
So, if you’re running a community bank, the question becomes: Where does our next phase of growth come from?
From what we’re seeing and hearing at LendingStandard, many banks are placing their bets on growing their Commercial Client base to fuel this future growth. A number of the community banks we’ve spoken with are investing in staff and solutions that focus more on growing their Commercial and Industrial (C&I) lending practice. And it makes sense. Business customers don’t just bring deposits — they bring relationships, recurring revenue, and broader impact on the local economy.
But this is a big but. Success in C&I lending isn’t just about shifting strategy. It requires rethinking how your bank operates. It means faster decisioning, more personalized service, better risk tools, and technology that doesn’t slow you down.
As one banker put it to me recently, “We can’t keep serving commercial customers with consumer tools.”
Exactly.
The institutions that are going to win in the next decade are the ones modernizing now. Because let’s face it: the big banks are pulling back on lending, and fintechs aren’t equipped for full-service business banking. That leaves a massive opportunity for community banks — if they’re ready to move.
So, if you’re on the leadership team at a bank or credit union, here are a few questions worth asking:
- Are our current systems built for commercial growth?
- Can we compete on speed, service, and relevance with today’s business customers?
- What’s holding us back from becoming the bank local businesses turn to first?
This is a critical moment for community banking. Let’s not let it pass us by.