For over 50 years in this wonderful business, I’ve been drawn by two forces: the chance to serve and the potential to build lasting value. Like many of you, I was attracted by the opportunity to make a difference, to help clients and communities thrive. Over time, disciplined efforts compound into lasting enterprise value, and that value has sustained banking for generations!
Our family invested in this work nearly a century ago, believing that strong community banks could help rebuild broken communities after the crash of ’29. I married into that legacy in 1969, and from the start, I knew success would depend on serving new entrants to our markets.
Payment systems now bypass traditional institutions, and franchise values face constant pressure. The question arises: should we stay invested or move on? I asked that same question in the early 1990s of a gentleman who knew our family, knew me and had been in the banking business. He had built one of America’s most technologically advanced companies from $20 million to $20 billion in sales. He responded by asking, “How long has banking been around?” I hazarded a guess—“since the Phoenicians.” He said, “Much earlier. The Mesopotamians. So, let’s put aside whether banking will exist; it always will. What will change is how you do it. That is why you hire young people to make sure you are relevant to their generation.” He was right then, and he’s still right now.
Many say this time is different, that AI, digital currencies and global rails are profoundly changing the business in a negative way. But the deeper truth remains: banking’s purpose hasn’t changed in 4,000 years. Whether storing grain in Mesopotamian temples or stablecoins in digital wallets, banking is the movement and storage of value. It’s helping people manage what they’ve earned and preparing them for what comes next.
FedNow, Zelle and AI are powerful tools, yet all are available to everyone. They are table stakes, not strategy. Competitive advantage can’t rest on technology for long because innovation levels the field so quickly.
What cannot be replicated is the human element—the genuine, caring relationship between one person and another. That remains our enduring strength and the essence of community banking.
While technology will always disrupt, service and care must always endure.
Recent research confirms what many of us have seen firsthand. Customers, particularly small businesses, choose their banks not for transaction speed but for personal connection. They want someone who knows their name, understands their goals and cares about their success. The Federal Reserve’s own findings show that community banks possess a “soft information advantage”—access to qualitative knowledge about borrowers and markets through personal relationships—that larger institutions struggle to scale. This advantage is what AI and automated systems cannot easily replicate.
Our methods may change, but our service does not. Our work is about helping others succeed, built on confidence and care. As transactions become more automated, the hunger for authentic human connection grows stronger. Every interaction, from the teller line to the boardroom, is a chance to show genuine concern. When customers feel that authenticity, loyalty deepens and long-term value follows. Servant leadership isn’t a slogan; it’s the foundation of sustainable advantage. Executives must model it, placing service to customers above short-term returns. Banking’s persistence reminds us that the need we serve is eternal. People will always seek safety for their value and guidance from someone they can trust. While technology will always disrupt, service and care must always endure.
This article is part of Retirement Reflections, an occasional series in Hoosier Banker featuring IBA staff and member-bank employees reflecting their personal thoughts, opinions and expertise after decades-long careers in the industry.
