Interest rates, compressed margains impacting Pa. banks

A Conversation With: John Hayes, president and CEO of New Tripoli Bank

LVB: You are president and CEO of New Tripoli Bank. Tell us more about the institution.

Hayes: New Tripoli Bank is a 114-year-old community bank. From our Main Office in New Tripoli, the bank has added two additional locations our Claussville Office, Orefield in 1999, and our Buckeye Office in Upper Milford Township in2019. We also have two free-standing ATMs in Andreas and Heidelberg.

The bank was founded with one simple goal to serve the financial needs of the community. We’ve kept that goal in mind through the years and while technology keeps modernizing, our customers can rely on us to be their friendly, reliable community bank.

LVB: You are also active with the Pa. Bankers Association. Tell us more about what the association does.

Hayes: The Pa. Bankers Association, Pennsylvania’s leading banking trade group, is a member-driven association comprised of over 120 banks and 100 affiliate members with interests in the commonwealth.

Member banks are at its core. Pa. Bankers is dedicated to providing professional educational seminars, conferences, schools and other training resources to keep Pennsylvania’s bankers competitive.

I have served on the Government Relations Policy and Lending Advisory Committees and was elected to the Board of Directors last month. I will take my seat on July 1.

I’m looking forward to working closely with bankers across the state and an exceptional staff to take the association forward.

LVB: What are the most pressing issues facing banking institutions in Pennsylvania right now?

Hayes: The community banking industry is under pressure from several fronts. Interest rates and compressed margins have impacted virtually all community banks and will for the foreseeable future as inflation remains above the Federal Reserve’s target rate and interest rates remain elevated.

The increasingly oppressive regulatory environment, where often a community bank like New Tripoli Bank is treated in similar fashion to JP Morgan Chase, is a significant hidden cost that can impact our ability to serve our customers.

Finally, fraud attempts on our customers are happening regularly. We take our responsibility to protect our customers and the bank seriously, personally. The New Tripoli team does a great job handling these issues.

LVB: Technology is always evolving in banking. What are some innovations you see on the horizon?

Hayes: I see continued technological evolution and innovation in numerous areas. Tech will continue to impact fraud detection and prevention, giving us the tools we need to stay ahead of the fraudsters. This includes improvements in tech tools that work to protect the bank from network intrusion and hacking.

And, of course, the buzzword of the day is Artificial Intelligence, or ‘AI.’

Applications here abound, from improving internal processes in a cost-effective manner, automating processes to make our staff more efficient, and providing hyper-personalized banking services to our customers.

Other areas that are continually evolving are the growing capabilities of our mobile and online banking platforms, analytical tools to help us work closely with our commercial customers to meet their capital/funding needs, and administrative tools that help ‘move the paper’ more effectively and efficiently.

But above all, our mission remains to use these tech innovations to supplement our personal service to customers, not supplant it.

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