The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) today launched a social media campaign to promote the virtues of community banks and urge consumers to consider a relationship with a hometown lender—rooted in their community and vested in their customers’ financial success.

“Community banks have always provided support to their communities in good times and in the most challenging of circumstances,” ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said. “The community bank response to the COVID-19 pandemic—as financial first responders and through imaginative and heartfelt projects to uplift the human spirt—show the true power of relationship banking when it matters most. ICBA is proud to represent the nation’s community banks and celebrates their passion and commitment to local communities.”

ICBA and Metairie Bank remind customers that in times of hardship or uncertainty, they can trust their local community bank to help achieve their financial goals. Community banks:

  • Respect and honor community ties. They channel loans to neighborhoods where their depositors live and work, which helps keeps the local economy churning.
  • Are relationship lenders, taking a holistic approach to lending that considers numerous sources of information, including credit history and discretionary spending.
  • Understand and embrace local businesses. The Federal Reserve has repeatedly found that small businesses that apply for loans with community banks are more successful and satisfied.
  • Are innovative. They partner with innovative technology providers, as showcased through ICBA’s ThinkTECH initiatives, to deliver high-tech, high-touch customer experiences.
  • Give back. Serving local communities is a part of the community bank tradition as reflected in ICBA’s National Community Bank Service Awards.

We know you have a choice in where you bank and are grateful for the opportunity to serve as a resource to help you realize your financial dreams. We love this community and want to do our part by reinvesting your hard-earned money back into our local economy to contribute to the financial health and welfare of your friends and neighbors.

For more information about community banks and to find one of Metairie Bank’s local branches, visit banklocally.org. Join the conversation on social media with the hashtag #BankLocally.