Suite Talk: Jerry Klein, president and CEO of Tompkins Mahopac Bank
The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted all areas of the economy, and the banking industry had its share of challenges during this unprecedented period. In this week”™s Suite Talk, Senior Enterprise Editor Phil Hall speaks with Jerry Klein, president and CEO of Tompkins Mahopac Bank, on how this regional financial institution held up over the pandemic.
How did the bank respond when the pandemic shut down the economy last March?
“We operated our branches as drive-thru only until June 22, when we got the okay from the state of New York to open them to customers. Because we are a critical business, we never shut down ”” we just went into a remote environment.”
We were very fortunate because we had a pandemic plan in place from about 10 or 12 years ago. So, we were prepared to work in a remote environment. And then as soon as this started to accelerate back in March, we pulled out our pandemic plan and got the operation going. We were able to quickly disperse our staff out to different environments, different branches and different locations so that no one department was all together.
“Within a couple of weeks after that, everybody was set up to work from their homes remotely. It was remarkable that we had that all done within a couple of short weeks ”” I think within less than four weeks, everybody from the back office was working from home.”
Well, you were certainly proactive to have a pandemic plan in place. What inspired that strategy?
“I think it was the H1N1 virus that led us to prepare and continuously make sure it was updated on an annual basis in the event that we ever needed it. And over that time, we replaced all of our desktop computers with laptops, so that our people could work remotely. And, boy, we”™re certainly thankful we had the capability and the bandwidth to be able to do that.”
How do you view the challenge from the fintechs that have become so prominent in the financial services world?
“Sometimes they”™re partners with us in certain avenues ”” it”™s just part of the business ”” and sometimes they may compete with us, but perhaps in a different way. We”™re a high-touch personal service type of business, but we do offer all the technology solutions that our customers are looking for.”
Let”™s say that I”™m moving into the area, and I”™m looking for a bank not only for myself as an individual, but I have a business and we”™d like to business partner on the banking side. Why would I want to do business with your institution as opposed to the other banks that are in the area?
“When you come into one of our branches, you”™ll get to meet our customer service professionals. We hire bright and happy people, and if you can start with bright and happy people in your environment you can educate them and you can teach them banking ”” you can”™t teach bright and happy. So, we have people who really care about you, understand you, get to know you and your business as a customer, and look to find the right solutions for you.
“We”™re not trying to sell you anything and everything. We”™re trying to find the best solutions for you based on our expertise in the industry and knowledge of your business. And we can certainly steer you in the right direction with the right product offering.
“We always tell our people that everybody doesn”™t need another credit card, they don”™t need another loan, they don”™t need another home equity loan ”” but let”™s do the right thing for the client all the time and over the long term, it will pay off. So, we have a very loyal customer base and we know them by name. We pick up the phone when you call, so you don”™t get stuck in phone mail jail ”” you can speak to a human being and get the answers you need.”
Speaking of hiring, are you seeing young people looking for careers in the banking field?
“This past year has brought us more young people than the last couple of years. That may be because they were in school through remote learning and remained home after graduation. I would say it hasn”™t been a substantial increase, but certainly an increase over what we”™ve seen the last couple of years.”
What is on your agenda for 2021?
“We”™re planning to continue in our current environment with our remote workforce and ultimately look to come back in the office as soon as we”™re able to under New York state guidance for capacity rules. We”™re optimistic about the future of the economy, and there”™s the next round of PPP loans coming, so that”™s going to be another thing for us to help our customers with.
“Plus, our own commercial lending and residential lending rates are extraordinarily low right now, so we anticipate that there will be continued strong loan demand, especially as the economy improves. We”™re anxious to get back in there and help our customers any way we can, just as we have this past year to get through this.”