While megabanks have been withdrawing from local communities in the wake of the financial crisis they created, a new Wall Street Journal article claims these areas can’t possibly get by without them, ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey writes. ICBA and community bankers have a more positive story to share, she wrote on Main Street Matters.
Romero Rainey pushed back against the misleading article by noting that community bank acquisitions of megabank branches are more often an economic boon for local communities. She noted that community banks are out-lending their competitors, have been adding bank offices while noncommunity bank offices are declining, and are taking advantage of innovative banking technologies.
“We at ICBA know better than to buy into the megabank spin,” Romero Rainey wrote. “So community bankers, let’s continue to keep up the good work in serving our customers, innovating, meeting the needs of our communities, and brushing off the negativity from our megabank competitors.”
Read ICBA Blog Post
