Independent Banker - May 2020 - 50

paying the loan, the CD is liquidated to pay off the loan and
the excess funds are sent to the consumer.
Lead Bank is expanding the Credit Builder program. In
late 2019, the community bank launched a secure credit
card that allows borrowers who've built up some equity to
take out a portion of it as credit on a credit card.
" We think it's an ethical product, enabling them to
preserve the credit score they worked so hard at while
growing into mainstream commercial banking products
like a card, " Rowland says. He adds that Lead Bank's plans
include more traditional banking products for this market,
including an unsecured card and a debit card account.
Making international connections
In Mechanicsville, Iowa, $100 million-asset Bridge
Community Bank is working to reach unbanked and
underbanked immigrants through their employers. Though
the town has just 1,100 residents, it's home to a significant
number of immigrants, including a small population of
seasonal agricultural workers from Central and South
America and several religious leaders from Africa.
One of the biggest financial challenges immigrant
employees face is sending money to their home countries,
says Bob Steen, CEO of Bridge Community Bank. In 2018,
people in the U.S. sent more than $68 billion to other
countries, according to the World Bank, at an average cost
of 5.43% of the transaction-though it can cost a lot more
and take a long time depending on where and how it's sent.
" We just got some wires from financial institutions in
Argentina, " Steen says. " They took over a week-some took
more than 10 days-from initiation to receiving. "
Bridge Community Bank wants to make remittances
more affordable and efficient with Sendmi, an app created
by ParityPay in Lehi, Utah. Sendmi is a supplemental
payroll model the bank can offer employers, who can then
make it available to employees. Employees can designate
paycheck funds to be deposited into Sendmi's digital wallet
in the form of an FDIC-insured passthrough account
at Bridge Community Bank. Using their smartphones,
employees have the option to send funds to a foreign bank
account or ATM in Mexico or a real-time bill pay in multiple
countries, with the funds immediately made available to the
receiver. The cost is intended to be nominal.
While the biggest challenge of implementing Sendmi is
the regulatory obstacles, Steen says, another is establishing
relationships on the other side of the transaction.
" It's a slow grind to establish those relationships, " says
Steen, who has been working on the initiative for two years,
50 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q May 2020
" In any of our small towns
we serve, we are seeing
people trying to establish
credit and struggling. It fits
the mission of community
banking and our community
bank to find innovative ways
to reach people. "
-Josh Rowland, Lead Bank
though he notes the international relationship-building is
the vendor's responsibility. " They have to be trusted. "
ParityPay has already built a relationship with Mexico's
central bank and its Interbank Electronic Payment System
(SPEI), and Bridge Community Bank is in the midst of a
friends and family test with a few employers. Steen has
earned the trust of users with hands-on demonstrations.
For example, he's taken customer employers to lunch and
used a smartphone to send 500 Mexican pesos, or about
$20, to family members. Right now, employees can send an
immediate payment for an ATM withdrawal in Mexico.
While the Sendmi wallet is a vehicle to move money,
rather than a bank account, Steen predicts it will help
bring people into the banking world. " We're going to have
a really big reach, " he says. " I think if we get this right,
community banks can take this same product and tap
into communities. "
A long-term path to financial health
Steen urges other community bankers to look around and
find ways to include the unbanked and underbanked in
their communities in the financial system. " Recognize that
your community bank has become more diverse than you
might realize, " he says. " This is the world I live in, and I
doubt it's very different from other communities. "
It's also essential for growth, especially in communities
with limited market areas. Rowland believes community
banks that want to grow beyond traditional boundaries and
business lines need to be willing to invest in the compliance
and back office functions necessary to maintain fair and
ethical consumer programs.
" The fundamental question is: Do you know why you
Independent Banker - May 2020

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