Independent Banker - June 2021 - 18

Greg Schaller (far right)
and Business Centre leader
Nick Thomas collaborate
at Midwest BankCentre's
Clayton, Mo., branch.
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the same demands, saying " I need this
now and right. " For example, we're in
the middle of three or four different
projects in our mortgage division
to streamline how we're getting
those products to customers more
quickly and accurately. As a smaller
institution, we're constantly conscious
of the cost balance and getting drilled
on the efficiency ratio. We struggle
with how many people we need to get
this done, [as well as] " Is this the right
technology? " and " Am I using it to the
fullest extent to get the job done? "
Stines: Hiring the right individuals
is a challenge anywhere I've worked.
Having a successful risk program is
having the right people with good skill
sets to set high goals.
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How has your role changed
in the past few years?
Schaller: Our evaluation of
operational risk and risk appetite has
become critical. Are we starting to
see trends or bump up against our
appetite limits? What are we doing
to ensure the potential risk is moved
back to yellow or green status? We're
constantly looking at our risk appetite
and how it aligns with strategy. That's
not to say we didn't have that before,
but our concentration on it is much
more important.
Johnson: My role changed by
growing into that CRO position where
I'm not just aware of compliance and
regulatory risk and internal controls.
It's an enterprise-wide concept.
Stines: When I started in January
of 2020, there were seven of us in
the risk group. Since then, I've hired
more than 30 professionals. I've done
a big shift from being in the weeds
day to day-in prospect calls and
solving problems-and now having to
manage 30 very skilled professionals.
We're partnering with fintech firms
that are going to market with cool
technology and apps, but they don't
have a charter. They partner with
us and we provide oversight. With
approximately 35,000 commercial
customers at the core bank we could
see growth into the millions of
customers over the course of the next
few years. Those are our customers
for compliance and risk purposes, so
we still have BSA [Bank Secrecy Act]
and consumer compliance risk.
What risks or types of risks
are growing threats for
community banks?
Stines: Cybersecurity, fraud and
BSA continue to be top of mind. As
we move further into the digital age,
fraudsters are watching and waiting
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Independent Banker - June 2021

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