Monday, October 6, 2008

Generational Transfer

For many rural banks, the aging population brings another issue . . . what will happen to their deposits when the current generation passes on? Unless efforts have been made to engage with, and offer services to, the next generation, it is likely that these funds will move on to wherever the heirs have built a life. In the coming weeks, I will comment on what sort of efforts community banks should be considering. At a high level, these would include population retention, relationship retention, and services expansion. For many banks, their very survival depends on either keeping or replacing these funds.