Selected Article:
Steinriede believes in hometown
banking
Bobby Steinriede
President
GUARANTY BANK
HOLLANDALE, Mississippi

by David Lush
DBJ Contributing Writer

For Bobby Steinriede of Belzoni, living and working in a small town in the Mississippi Delta is not only the right choice for him but also a smart one at that.

Steinriede, president of the Hollandale Branch of Guaranty Bank and Trust Co., has called the Mississippi Delta home all his life, raised his family here and made a name for himself in the banking industry. In all, he’s been in the banking business for 31 years.

As many small or hometown banks are snapped up by mega banking companies and corporations with corporate headquarters far from the customers they serve, Steinriede is pleased that his bank and banking company wants to keep its roots right where the people are.

“I love what I do and love working with people,” says Steinriede who enjoys going to his job at the hometown bank in Hollandale and Belzoni. “Guaranty hasn’t been bought out by any of the big banking companies and we don’t plan to become part of one of them.”

Besides the bank offices in Belzoni and Hollandale, Guaranty Bank and Trust Co. now has branched out to Indianola and three facilities in Greenville. Steinriede, who has been at the Hollandale bank for 27 years, is also in charge of all bank branches in the company.

With corporate offices in Belzoni, Steinriede says Guaranty hasn’t strayed far from its home base and the people who like and want personal service by bank employees who know their names.

“That’s so important to us,” he says. “The personal service and being able to deal with each of our customers on a one-to-one basis are the major advantages to our bank. That’s what people want is personal service. They like to know that someone at the bank understands their needs and can address those needs right then. We don’t have to wait for some approval from a corporate office across the country.

“We feel there is a place and a need for hometown, community banks. Our goal is —and remains—to be a hometown bank. We are committed to our employees, stockholders and, most importantly, our customers. Our home office is in Belzoni right here in the Mississippi Delta,” says Steinriede.

While the Delta may have its share of problems and issues, Steinriede still thinks it’s a great place to raise a family.

“I’ve lived here really all my life. I’m from Belzoni and I work here. I’ve raised five kids here and can’t imagine living anywhere else. I love it. I won’t be going anywhere else,” he says.
And there are many other people like Steinriede and his family who also don’t want to go somewhere else. All the more reason for a hometown bank, he notes.

“Hometown banks have a bright future,” he says. “Bigger banks and the merged systems have changed the way people do banking. And a lot of the time, they never ask the customer what they want. The banks do what’s convenient for them. They’ve moved away from personal service and really knowing customer’s individual banking needs.

“And because of their size, they can offer services cheaper that we can. But a lot of those services are not what our customers want. Because we’re smaller and have facilities right here in the small towns, we get to know our customers. We go to church with them, see them at the schools, work together in civic organizations and see them right on the streets. And we’re available pretty much 24 hours a day,” Steinriede says.

Because he works for a hometown bank, he’s even gone to the office after hours to deal with an emergency with a customer or help out with another financial needs. Steinriede says, “We do a lot of our banking after hours. I think that’s what has given us the competitive edge. We know the people and we know what our customers needs. The big banks can’t even begin to compete with that. That’s a major reason hometown, community banks are here to stay,”

And to prove his point, Steinriede says Guaranty Bank and Trust Co. has increased in assets and has even tripled in size in the last five years with the addition of branches in Indianola and Greenville.

Even though the bank has tripled in size, the main reason the bank is so successful is “because of the people we have here. We’ve hired some very good personnel and loan officers. I think we have assembled the best team we can. Because without good people who know and understand the customers, it’s just a bank,” Steinriede says.

A good example of the kind of bank Steinriede says Guaranty is can be found in the movie “It’s A Wonderful Life.”

When he’s not banking, Steinriede and some longtime friends still trek to Ole Miss football games where he likes to tailgate at his alma mater.

“I love to go to Ole Miss football games. We have a great time. And I like to hunt, too. I have a group of longtime friends I go hunting with over in the hills in Yazoo and Holmes county. It’s mainly social hunting. I don’t get too serious about it. It’s just a fun outing to do with friends,” he says.

One of the most significant things Steinriede says he thinks he’s accomplished with his life so far “is how I’ve raised my children and how they’ve done. I’m so proud of them. I had two children of my own and then I married a widow who had three children. I’ve helped raise them just like my own. All five of them have done so well and are scattered out in geography and age.”

Two sons are now working at Stoneville and in Memphis, a daughter is in medical school, another is a freshman at Ole Miss and the last son is in fifth grade.

“I guess we’re not done raising kids but I enjoy them all and am proud of what they’ve done. My family, my children, my wife and my success in banking is what I find most fulfilling,” he says.

And with that emphasis on family, Steinriede feels he’s in a better position to know and understand the needs of other Delta families. “That’s so important. And because we are all in the community living and working together, we get to know our customers pretty well.”
Despite the national economic downturn and the effect it has had on places like the Mississippi Delta, Steinriede is still bullish on the future of the Delta.

“I see good things coming for the Delta. There are a lot of untapped resources here. Sometimes there are negative things being said about the Delta but the positives far outweigh the negatives. I see people of all races coming together and trying to work on our problems and finding solutions. I like to think positively about what we have to offer. We do have a lot to offer to a lot of different people with our natural resources, food, the Blues and cost of living. A dollar here in the Delta will go a lot farther than in most other places. I just like promoting the Delta,” Steinriede says.

And one of the positives about small town life is “knowing that you have a hometown bank that cares about you,” he says. DBJ

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