Independent Banker - May 2020 - 41

Q&A ...
Nitin Shah, chairman and
CEO, Embassy National Bank
Q: How important are your customers to
your success?
A: Our major key to success is knowing our customers
and having long-term relationships with them, helping
them during difficult times. As a result, [they] stay
with us. Some ... have been with us since I became
CEO during the last financial crisis, during which time
I helped them refinance and renovate their properties
and businesses. I understood their problems with
franchise issues and renovation like no
one else did, because, even though
we were in crisis, as a businessman
myself, I knew that fundamentally
they were strong and their
character was strong. As a result,
we are reaping the benefits of that.
Nitin Shah
Q: How do you learn what your
customers need?
A: Besides having been a businessman myself
before entering banking, our board consists of three
businessmen out of six. We network a lot, stay active in
the community and sponsor community events, and, as
a result, we understand local businesses and what they
need. We understand their strengths, as well as where
they need help.
Q: In what other
ways do you help
your customers?
A: In many ways,
we see ourselves as
business solution
consultants, not just
bankers. A lot of
#23
Embassy National Bank
Lawrenceville, Ga.
Assets: $108 million
3-yr average ROA: 2.61%
embassynationalbank.com
times, our customers need help, but they may not even
realize that they do. We can help them understand if we
think they might be making a mistake. For example, if
they want money to engage in a renovation, we may let
them know that the amount they are seeking will not
be enough and we sometimes give them more money
than they think they need to ensure that our collateral
is adequately protected. We want to make sure they get
the right amount of money, so they can do the job right.
" Our main keys to success
have been watching our costs
of funds and our margins. "
-Darrel Small,
Town & Country Bank
3 minutes with ...
Darrel Small, president and
CEO, Town & Country Bank
What are your keys to
success related to your
ROA performance?
Our main keys to success
have been watching our
costs of funds and our
margins. In addition, we
do not get into consumer
banking. We are a
commercial bank. While we serve all customers on
the deposit side, as far as lending and investments
go, we focus on the commercial side. As such,
this means we don't have to focus on trying to
compete with credit unions and other
banks on rates on consumer lending.
#12
Town & Country Bank
Las Vegas
Assets: $185 million
3-yr average ROA: 2.98%
tcbanknv.com
What else have you found
effective to maintain efficiency?
We operate four branches, so it
is very important for us to work
hard to keep overhead costs low,
including contracts and our costs of
labor. We don't have a lot of additional programs
or bells and whistles. We really consider ourselves
to be a traditional community bank. We have a
few things that we offer beyond the basics, such
as debit cards, lines of credit and mobile banking.
However, again, we aren't spending time looking
for the new things or the latest business modules
in banking. We simply focus on core banking. In
sum, we focus on doing the basics very well.
William Atkinson is a writer in Illinois.
independentbanker.org Q 41
Darrel Small
http://www.tcbanknv.com http://www.embassynationalbank.com http://www.independentbanker.org
Independent Banker - May 2020

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