A regular electronic publication of the Georgia Bankers Association

www.gabankers.com

 November 2,  2001

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Bankers Respond
We continue to hear from our members who have been actively involved in raising funds to assist the victims and families of the terrorist attacks.  Joe Ferguson, President of Stephens Federal Bank in Toccoa reports:  “The employees of Stephens Federal opened an account for the benefit of the New York Firefighters Widow’s and Children’s Fund.  We advertised the existence of the account in the communities we serve.   To date, we have collected more than $8,500 for the fund, including more than $2,500 from local firefighters who wanted to do their part...and the contributions continue to come in.”  Gary McGaha, President of Southern Community Bank in Fayetteville reports:  “Our bank has served as a collection point for Red Cross donations.  At the same time, the bank instituted a program allowing employees to purchase the privilege of wearing blue jeans to work with the proceeds going to charity. To date, the Red Cross drive and the employee program together have raised over $8,900. On one occasion, a customer cashed her $600 tax refund check and placed the money in the collection container – a true example of the American spirit!” And Charles Buckner, President of Tucker Federal Bank reports: “We contributed $10,000, which were combined funds from our employees, matched by the Bank. We submitted another check for $2501.84, which were contributions from customers throughout our 15 local branches. We are continuing our efforts at each of our branches to assist the Red Cross and have generated $3,097.21 in additional branch customer donations.” The GBA staff contributed $965 to the Victims and Families Fund coordinated by our colleagues with the New York and Virginia Bankers Associations. Thanks to all!

Bankers Insurance Network
The Georgia Bankers Association is pleased to announce the formation of our newest initiative designed to assist our members to increase their profitability.  The Bankers Insurance Network® was approved at the recent GBA Board of Directors meeting and we hope our members will take advantage of its services by joining.  GBA Chairman, Jimmy Burnsed, Chairman and CEO of Bryan Bank and Trust in Richmond Hill said, “Most bankers have looked at insurance and made one of three decisions:  it’s not for our bank, let’s wait and see what others do, or let’s find a way to sell insurance to our customers.  The Bankers Insurance Network is designed to support those banks that either want to offer insurance or want to stay involved with other bankers to learn from their experiences.”  Jimmy went on to say, “We know some of our members have bought an agency, others have put agents in their banks while others are considering joining an insurance consortium.  Any one of these decisions could be the right one for a particular bank, but each comes with risks and rewards.  This new GBA service is designed to help our bankers make the right decision for their bank and provide ongoing educational and regulatory support regardless of the delivery channel selected,” he concluded.  The Bankers Insurance Network will sponsor quarterly peer group sessions, coordinate the banker-specific educational program for licensure and assist with any regulatory or legislative issues that arise.  We are seeking volunteers to serve on the Steering Committee and you may nominate someone on the enclosed form.  The Bankers Insurance Network is in its early stages of development and its activities will be directed and refined by the Steering Committee.  Enclosed with this mailing is a memorandum for Chief Executive Officers as well as an application form for membership in the Network.  Specific questions or suggestions should be directed to GBA’s Joe Brannen at (404) 420-2026.  

2001 State Legislative Issues
Governor Roy Barnes
Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor
Georgia House of Representatives
Georgia State Senate
Federal Legislative Issues
U.S. Congress
Legislative Updates
Legal Issues

Georgia BankPAC Classic a Success
Leadership GBA’s first Georgia BankPAC Classic proved to be an outstanding success. “We were pleased with the attendance as well as the $6,558 contribution that we were able to make to Georgia BankPAC this year,” said Rob Coile, Leadership GBA Legislative Chair and Senior Vice President of Chestatee State Bank in Dawsonville.  “It was a great way to begin what we hope to be an annual event.” A raffle was also held and participants generously opened their wallets to support Camp Challenge, a NC camp for high-achieving, low-resource middle school students that Leadership GBA co-sponsors in support of the America’s Promise program for youth.  See the lists of sponsors and tournament winners.

ID Theft Town Hall Meetings
Bank presidents have received an invitation to a series of three Town Hall meetings GBA is cosponsoring with Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker.  The meetings are in Atlanta, Macon and Savannah on November 7, 8 and 9.  ID Theft has been labeled the fastest growing consumer crime and we hope our members will attend these meetings with other business, law enforcement and government officials.  Call GBA’s Joe Brannen at (404) 420-2026 with questions.

 

GBA BankPAC Update
Since the last Bulletin, the officers and directors of Monroe County Bank, Forsyth, Bill Bazemore, President, have participated in the Georgia BankPAC 2001 campaign by contributing to the GBA StatePAC. Thanks for your support. If you have questions or need additional information, please call GBA’s Elizabeth Way at (404) 420-2027.

Deposit Insurance Reform 
FDIC Chairman Don Powell testified on deposit insurance reform before a House subcommittee recently. Among other things, Powell recommended providing assessment credits to banks for future premiums based on past contributions to the fund, indexing deposit insurance to inflation, increasing the deposit insurance coverage level for accounts, and requiring all banks to pay some risk-based assessment premiums because all represent some risk to the fund. According to the FDIC, for many banks the credits, in theory, would offset the premiums.  GBA President Joe Brannen said, “We were glad to hear the Chairman speak out in support of two key issues our members want: raising the coverage and indexing it to inflation.  FDIC coverage has never been more important and we are glad Congress is spending time on the issue.”

Predatory Lending
GBA hosted a meeting last week of all the lender groups involved in the predatory lending debate. The meeting was designed to get input on further refinement to the bill that passed the Senate. Proponents of the legislation continue to work statewide at the local level to pass local ordinances, which we anticipate the General Assembly will need to act to preempt. The Senate bill was amended to limit its impact on the real predatory lenders and lessen its impact on traditional banks. It will be important for our members to stay attuned to this debate as we will need every member’s help to ensure our views are heard when the General Assembly convenes in January.

Calendar of Events
Schools
Conferences
Seminars
Events
Georgia AIB
Leadership GBA
Personal Economics Program (PEP)
Internet Training

eLearning: Another Solution to Your Training Needs
Training via the internet, or eLearning, is rapidly gaining acceptance by banks both large and small. Perhaps the simplest and most effective case for eLearning is the increased productivity it provides: banks of all sizes can offer broad-based employee training delivered anytime and anywhere. GBA is pleased to now offer our members access to this growing world of online training on our website and have partnered with some of the leading developers of web-based training to bring banking-specific, self-paced courses. ABA’s eLearning Program, powered by Digital Think, offers over 50 courses that range from two to eight hours in length and start as low as $165 per person. Topics include Compliance, Retail Banking, Management, Trust and Investments. Try a free and easy-to-use demo. Call GBA’s Edie Canales at (404) 420-2034 for more information.

Fall Workshops
GBA’s Asset/Liability Management Committee is co-sponsoring two workshops this fall with the Financial Managers Society at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Atlanta. The two-day workshop, Customer Profitability Measurement in Financial Institutions:  Accounting Implementation Issues, November 12-13, shows you how to get the most accurate data for decision-making with these measurement tools:  net interest margin and funds transfer pricing, activity-level standard unit costs and capital assignment and loss provisions.  The other two-day workshop, Controlling Information Technology Risks in Community Banks, November 13-14, covers the fundamentals of information technology (EDP) auditing and will address technology issues challenging the financial executive of a community bank.  There is an optional half-day session on AS/400 Security & Audit on the afternoon of November 12th.  Contact GBA’s Norma Guild at (404) 420-2031 additional information.

Annual Bank Security Management Seminar
GBA’s annual Bank Security Management seminar is scheduled for December 5th in Gainesville and December 6th in Macon. Topics to be covered include robbery alarm response procedures, dealing with violent or disturbed customers and other volatile situations, dealing with potentially violent employee behavior, the aftermath of a violent crime, and extortion and its relationship to personal and family security. Participants will receive an employee security training video, a training certificate, and a comprehensive procedural guide. For more details, please call GBA’s Marybeth Jones at (404) 420-2032.

Newly Scheduled Telephone Seminars
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions have taken on a new level of urgency as the federal government attempts to locate and freeze assets of terrorists in the wake of the September 11th attacks.  All About OFAC, a two-hour telephone seminar scheduled for November 30, will provide bankers with a thorough understanding of OFAC regulations and how to implement them. Detecting and Preventing Fraud is a telephone seminar designed for anyone responsible for minimizing the risk associated with fraud for frontline personnel and will be held December 6th.  For more details, please call GBA’s Marybeth Jones at (404) 420-2032.

Retirement Plan Administration & Investments Seminar
GBA Retirement Services, Inc., which sponsors the GBA Master Pension and Profit Sharing Trust, will be having Retirement Plan Administration Seminars in two sessions this year: December 5 in Macon and December 6 in Marietta. The seminars will include information on 401(k) testing, year-end data collections, investment reviews and much more. Plan administrators, who must stay abreast of the latest changes and regulations in retirement plans, can do just that by attending one of these seminars. In addition to current Trust members, GBA welcomes any bank that is interested in learning more about the Trust’s investments and administration. The GBA Master Trust provides high quality, affordable pension, profit sharing, and Section 401(k) programs for banks of all sizes. Please contact Mandy Richards at (404) 420-2025 or Bruce Shaw at (770) 642-2150 for more information about the GBA Master Pension and Profit Sharing Trust or how GBA can help you with your retirement plan design.

Insurance Trust, Inc.
Retirement Services, Inc.
GBA Services, Inc.

Managing Your Customer Relationships
Knowing the top 10% of your customer base in today’s financial market is essential to staying competitive in the financial marketplace. Keeping your most valued customers satisfied and maintaining a profitable relationship, as well as growing your customer base is where financial institutions say they want to excel.  However, if you don’t have the tools to analyze this information it’s only a good thought!  That is why the Market Advantage CRM (Customer Relationship Management)/MCIF solution from Harte-Hanks has been the leading MCIF solution to the member banks of the Georgia Bankers Association.

Market Advantage Allows our member banks to:

  • Determine product, account, individual, and household profitability to identify your best customers.

  • Calculate the lifetime calculate of an account to increase profitability.

  • Get critical information to your platform; such as customer profit/segmentation values, the three most profitable products your customer is likely to purchase next, and current account status.

  • Re-price your products using various profit scenarios to determine overall impact with transaction detail.

  • Household your customer relationships on a retail and commercial level or a combination of both.

Two of the many attributes that distinguish Harte-Hanks in the financial arena are their customized profit model and their state of the art household capability.  They are the only MCIF vendor exclusively endorsed by both the Georgia Bankers Association and the American Bankers Association, through its subsidiary, the Corporation for American Banking.  If you would like more information on managing your customer relationships to increase profitability contact GBA’s Renee Valdez at (404) 420-2036 or Harte-Hanks’ Tom Colucci at (407) 531-1133.

Some Of The Services Available Through GBA Services, Inc.

GBA Services, Inc. is governed by a board composed primarily of community bank presidents who look for the best products and services available.  They do the due diligence for you and you can rely on their efforts.  For more information on any of these services, please contact Renee Valdez at (404) 420-2036.

Welcome New Associate Members
Congratulations to the following companies for being approved for Associate Membership:

More than 130 businesses have joined as associate members giving our members more options for top quality, cost-effective products and services.  For more information, contact Renee Valdez at (404) 420-2036.

2002 Holiday Decals Available
The 2002 Holiday Decals are being sent directly to those who requested placement on our standing order list. Not only do the window decals provide a professional appearance, they also contain the 10 holiday closings recognized by the Federal Reserve Bank in accordance with FDIC rules. To order or verify your standing order, please call GBA’s Renee Valdez at (404) 420-2036 or Kenyetta Parks at (404) 420-2035.

Internet Liability Insurance
At the recent CEO Conference, the issue of liability for your bank’s website was discussed by representatives from Progressive Insurance Company which has been able to recently provide several Georgia banks with this important coverage.  If you have not considered adding this coverage to your bank’s insurance policy, we strongly urge you to discuss the need with our insurance representatives by calling Renee Valdez at (404) 420-2036.

For Sale
Bank & Business Systems, Inc., Rome, has for sale modular bank units measuring 14x60, 14x76, and 28x76. Please contact Louis Barton at (706) 232-2304 or for more information.

Atlanta, The Bankers Bank
Congratulations to Kim Walton for her recent selection to Women Looking Ahead News Magazine’s 100s List of Georgia’s Most Powerful and Influential Women.

Canton, Cherokee Bank
Shelia J. Garrison has been promoted to Assistant Vice President.

Cartersville, Bartow County Bank
Our sympathies to the family and colleagues of Chairman Jefferson L. Davis, who passed away on October 20.

Cumming, Citizens Bank of Forsyth County
Deborah McLeod has joined the bank as Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer.

GBA's e-Bulletin List
Our e-Bulletin subscriber list continues to grow with each edition.  Bankers from any member bank can be added to the email-distributed version of the Bulletin.  A bonus of getting the e-Bulletin is the number of links we include, which puts even more information at your fingerprints. This is a great way to keep your key employees informed of significant industry information, trends and events. To add yourself or others in your bank to the list, send an email containing the name and email address of each individual to GBA’s Lydia Thomas.

For more information, send an e-mail to the Webmaster.

GBA Staff e-mail and direct phone numbers, snail mail addresses, fax and phone numbers