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Strategic expansion is key in business but it comes with challenges.
Jude Melville, Chairman and CEO of b1Bank, shared some tips on how banks can balance the risks and rewards of expansion and much more in the latest episode of Business Report’s “Strictly Business.”
Melville discussed the bank’s strategy for expansion, maintaining company culture and values and the potential biggest disruptor for community banks and how to address it.
He also emphasized the importance of having the right people in place.
“Our drive to be bigger and in new markets has been about making sure that we’re doing the right things to diversify our risk,” Melville says. “You can have a thousand clients, but if you’re not here five, 10, 15 years from now to be able to serve those clients, then you’re not any better off than not existing. It’s about being better instead of bigger, which comes naturally when you’re better.”
Here are a few additional key takeaways from the conversation.
Acquisition challenges
Melville says the bank was in the middle of its largest merger in terms of relative size when the pandemic hit. The bank was in the process of acquiring Pedestal Bank and had to quickly adjust its plans for system conversion, rebranding of banking centers and onboarding 200-plus employees.
He says it was an unpredictable challenge.
“The reason we chose to continue following through with the acquisition was that I knew we were partnering with the right people,” Melville adds. “When it comes to acquisitions, everyone’s unique but what needs to be consistent for me is a level of trust and comfort with the people we’re partnering with.”
Maintaining company culture and values
Melville says he is most proud of the awards the bank has received in recognition of its culture.
“To be able to do that with a culture where you’ve all worked together for 30 years, I think is one thing, but to be able to do it when you’ve quintupled in size over five, six years and introduced a lot of new faces is something that I’m extremely proud of and I think a pretty rare accomplishment.”
Top concern for banks in the new year
The biggest disruptor Melville sees for banks is fraud, including cybersecurity issues. He says there have been a lot of technological advancements and he expects more with AI. However, he says such advancements bring risks.
“I think as a country, as an industry, we’re gonna face a period in which some of these technological tools are used for bad purposes,” he says. “We have to be prepared and do what we can to make sure that we’re keeping up with that and make sure that we’re also making the right technological investments to use those tools.”
Check out all of our episodes in the “Strictly Business” library.
