Washington continues to amend both the House and Senate versions of a "Financial Reform Bill" and it is hard for me to talk about possible outcomes when nothing has been decided.  I hoped to be able to shed some light on some of the bill's issues, but with the rapid changes taking place it would be premature to attempt explanation.  I will forward information about changes as they become more concrete!

I read an article lately that gave some statistics on bank customers.  An overwhelming majority of bank customers believe that Community Banks have much better service than Mega-Banks.  This sounds really good for us, doesn't it!  However, the same percentage of customers believe Mega-Banks have better products than Community Banks.  Ok, now it doesn't sound as good.The article stated that when dealing with financial institutions, the average customer believes they must sacrifice either service or products.  They think there is no way to have both!  I mention this because after considering this information, our staff is engaged in redeveloping our products to better serve our customers!  We are reviewing every detail of every account we have along with any other service we provide. 

This is where I ask for your help.  If you have a need that we are currently not meeting to your satisfaction, please let us know.  We will be utilizing "Focus Groups" to help us determine what our customers would like to experience at our institution.  If you are interested in being a part of a Focus Group please contact Ashley Bugg, Development Coordinator, (abugg@richwoodbank.com) and let us know!

We understand that service alone will not make loyal customers.  We must have products that make life easier for them as well.  Thanks for helping us become a bank where you can "Have your cake, and eat it too!"