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Digital offerings such as cash management and real-time payments can position community banks to more effectively compete against larger institutions.
Cornerstone Bank in Worcester, Massachusetts, has long banked the commercial real estate space, making its bread and butter lending against an assortment of property types, from industrial to multifamily. More recently, it set a goal to increase commercial and industrial loan production in central Massachusetts.
The $1.6 billion Small Business Administration lender and subsidiary of SSB Community Bancorp believes it can gain a competitive advantage catering to businesses needing to borrow $5 million or less. Michael Lavoie, Cornerstone’s senior commercial officer, says those companies’ borrowing needs may be overlooked by larger competitors.
“The larger banks are not focusing on that market quite as much, and we can provide a high-touch service along with the electronic and digital capabilities they need to operate efficiently,” he says. To keep up with those clients’ needs, Cornerstone Bank has added new products and services to its treasury management suite, such as lockbox and merchant services.
“We have a lot of experience here working on the treasury management side in the C&I world, where we can actually add value, especially with smaller businesses,” Lavoie says.
A broader offering gives Cornerstone the ability to play a more consultative role to small business clients, and that’s critical to winning more business. “They don’t always know what products are available to them,” he says.
To learn more about how Cornerstone and other community banks are meeting small businesses’ digital banking needs, download the report, sponsored by COCC, here.
