Pub. 11 2016-2017 Issue 6

A S INTEREST RATES CONTINUE TO RISE, IT CAN BE increasingly difficult to originate loan deals. But the right correspondent banking partner can help you better help your customers. Healthy competition is good for all of us, but it can also be difficult, especially when competitors offer impossi- bly low rates. Correspondent banking partners can help community banks compete in the market by partner- ing with you to enhance your bank’s competitiveness, profitability, and ability to serve your commercial and agricultural customers. More people are investing their money in the stock mar- ket than in CDs. That makes liquidity even more difficult for community banks. A correspondent banking partner can help with that by expanding your customer prospect list to include larger relationships in your markets. Cor- respondent banks can help you target customers who are too large to handle on your own. In addition to buying and selling loan participations, correspondent banking partners can provide bank stock loan funding for the purchase of acquisitions, refinanc- ing, restructuring, and regulatory capital requirements. A correspondent bank also can offer business and per- sonal loans to bank owners, insiders, directors, manag- ers, and officers. Correspondent banking partners can help in the under- writing process, and they can offer expertise on loans that might not be as commonplace at smaller, rural banks. www.nebankers.org Choosing the Right Loan Correspondent Partner Gene Uher, Bell Bank