What if we had no (or limited) competition? That is hard to imagine when we think about how many other Banks, Credit Unions, Insurance Companies offering CDs, Investment Brokers, Car Finance Companies and online Fintechs we compete with today. Would you believe me if I told you there was a time when state banking laws… Read more »

I recently read an article that talked about the number of banks in the U.S. decreasing from 11,971 to 5,362 since 1995. This article appeared in July 2019, and I have seen a number of announcements (including several in Virginia) since – thus my 5,300 some guesstimate. I would note that when I started working at… Read more »

My how time flies. 20 years ago at this time of year, bankers (including me) were very worried about what would happen when the clock struck midnight on December 31, 1999. We, like many banks, had literally millions of dollars in cash in our vaults. Some customers had taken their funds out of the bank in… Read more »

Scouring through the various sites that list ideas for Christmas, I came across an article about technology products. Not unusual in itself given tech in our lives. What surprised me about this article is that it was a list of fairly recent tech that we used to buy – but do not anymore! There on… Read more »

Well, we are entering the home stretch to the holidays. Less than two weeks to Christmas! Some of you have likely finished shopping (my wife has). Some of you have not (me). During this time it can be easy for us to focus on things. Now, that is ok and just a part of the… Read more »

This time of year we often hear the term, “a Big Lick”! That often comes to mind when watching a football game and a huge tackle happens. I think about Big Licks when I reminisce about the very large lollipops that my Great Aunt gave me and my sisters at Christmas time. In the 1880s,… Read more »

During the past month I watched more baseball than I have in a long time. While I usually watch some of the World Series, it was normally sporadic most years. But this year was different. I sensed that something was in the air. What was in the air was a team that faced elimination five times… Read more »

I’ve shared with some that I took my mom up to Lynchburg to see a pain specialist a couple Fridays ago. On the way up, she and I shared many stories. One of the stories was about her and my Dad’s early marriage. Dad had built their house (by hand), he and mom moved in,… Read more »

Recently I had to take my mom out of town for a doctor visit. We were in the car for hours, and it was good to catch up on the past, the present, and the future (my mom, who is 84, is always thinking of the future). On our way home, we stopped at Cracker… Read more »

We all take pride and satisfaction in taking care of customers. Helping them buy a house? Big adrenaline rush! Moving that large commercial checking account and loan? Let’s party! But what about the little things? How about resetting an online banking account or fixing a debit card issue at a person’s local office? Or unlocking… Read more »