Independent Banker - June 2021 - 19

to commit a crime. A lot of fraud
comes from actual people with
no bad history or controls-they
are utilized as mules. How do you
stop that person from getting in
without stopping everyone? It's a
big problem.
Johnson: I 100% agree BSA is
a huge risk, because fraudsters
are finding faster and better ways
of getting around how banks
identify fraud. With the size of my
institution, it's almost as scary as
the threat of examiner scrutiny. We
have no history of issues, but there
is a lot of ambiguity of what are
sufficient controls for managing and
monitoring BSA risk.
Schaller: One of our biggest risks
right now is fintechs and new
entrants into the industry. A lot of
people look at those as solely risk,
because they can take market share
and customers. But the risk isn't
that they'll take market share. The
risk is in not acknowledging that
they are there, and not adapting to
the innovations they are bringing
to market. How can we take what
they are doing and build it into
our strategy?
Johnson: Credit risk is a growing
threat, and not just in the potential
for defaults. Competition continues
to increase, and [larger banks]
are developing fintech and doing
things to grab customers like ours
with cool new features we can't
access yet. When you're a smaller
organization, how do you keep up
and stay competitive?
Schaller: Another risk since we've
moved the majority of the workforce
to remote: How do you continue to
monitor employee engagement? How
do you monitor productivity and
" When you want to
make a change-I'm
a huge proponent
of change-it's so
important to stop,
breathe and really dig
into the impacts of
the change. "
-JENNIFER JOHNSON,
FORTE BANK
JUNE 9 | 3 ET / 2 CT
The Time is Now
for Construction
Finance
Featuring:
Sean Faries
CEO
Land Gorilla
security protocol? We've introduced a
performance management system to
help us with this.
What should others within your
community bank know about
your position?
Johnson: I wish all my coworkers
would look at their positions
globally. When you want to make
a change-I'm a huge proponent
of change-it's so important to
stop, breathe and really dig into
the impacts of the change. Often,
someone gets a good idea, runs with
it and doesn't contact the people
who may be impacted and may
miss some places where it [has an
impact]. It turns into frustration
and mismatched ideas. They get the
impression we don't want to change.
Stines: I couldn't agree with you
more. It's a big message to get out
there. What we are doing today will
have a significant contribution to
bank strategy. 
Kelly Pike is a writer in Virginia.
Shannon Faries
Director of Strategic
Relationships
Land Gorilla
Today's housing market represents
the opportunity of a lifetime for
Community Banks to serve their
local communities with more
housing, more home renovation,
and to grow their bottom
line. Discover the significant
opportunities ahead as well as
key tools and best practices to
make renovation and construction
loans the most important assets
in your portfolio.
REGISTER TODAY!
To register and view our full
library of free on-demand
webinars, visit the Independent
Banker Webinar Center at
Independentbanker.org
http://www.Independentbanker.org
Independent Banker - June 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Independent Banker - June 2021
